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Social Sciences: Search planning

Subject guide for social science courses: criminology / sociology / social anthropology

Planning how you will conduct your research

  • We recommend using the Search Planning Form (download template Word doc below) to plan and document your research strategy, especially Undergraduate Level 6 and Postgraduate Level 7 students. This process requires your critical thinking and analysis skills (what's critical thinking?).
  • You will find a worked example of a Search Planning Form in our Literature Reviews guide for Health students here (example form presents midwifery as the topic, but the same principles apply for any topic being researched. Work through the process considering your assessment / final year research project topic).
  • This Search Techniques guide will help you through the search planning process, as you improve your research skills.

Develop your search strategy

Your Search Planning Form helps you with working out the keywords for searching your topic and developing a research question.

If you contact HSS Library Team (hsslibteam@bournemouth.ac.uk) for advice on your research skills we will request your completed search planning form.

Concept tools: PICO & PEO

Concept tools allow you to think about your research question in a structured way.

  • PICO is a well-known concept tool, very useful for queries about a specific treatment or intervention, focused on a specific group of people.
  • PICO stands for: Population / Patient / Problem - Intervention - Comparison - Outcome

Some examples below:

PICO example 1 +

Question: Do mass media interventions (e.g. adverts) help prevent smoking in young adults (12-18)?
  • Patient/population: young adults (12-18)
  • Intervention: mass media intervention
  • Comparison:no mass media intervention; other types of intervention (such as leaflets).
  • Outcome: smoking prevention.

PICO example 2 +

Question: Does exercise improve recovery in adults (20-60) undergoing chemotherapy?
  • Patient/population: adults (20-60) on chemotherapy
  • Intervention: exercise
  • Comparison: no exercise
  • Outcome: improved recovery
  • PEO is very useful for qualitative queries.
  • PEO stands for: Population / Problem - Exposure - Outcome

Some examples below:

PEO example 1 +

Question: What is the effect of eating habits on the overall health of elderly people?
  • Population/Problem: elderly people (65 and over)
  • Exposure: eating habits
  • Outcomes (or themes): effect on overall health.

PEO example 2 +

Question: Are student nurses trained to cope with future stress in the workplace?
  • Population/Problem: student nurses
  • Exposure: education
  • Outcomes (or themes): coping with stress in the workplace
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Video: Boolean operators - using AND / OR to improve searching Library's databases

Video: Why can't I just Google it?

It's important that you don't just "Google it" when doing coursework research.

Watch the first 2 mins of this video to find out why (advice from 3 mins into this video about 'RMIT Library' does not apply to you, refer instead to BU Library's databases and guides, linked from the Brightspace Library area, and contact the BU Library Team):