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PICO research question builder

Fill the building blocks and get a sharp, answerable research question - plus a first-draft search string to take to the string builder.

Your research question

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A sharp question is half the paper

Most rejections trace back to a fuzzy question. Get it right with 1:1 PhD mentoring, or learn the full workflow in the workshop.

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Which framework should I use?

PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) suits experimental and quantitative questions. PICOC adds Context - useful in management and social science where setting matters (e.g. "Indian MSMEs"). SPIDER (Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, Research type) fits qualitative and mixed-methods work. Pick the one closest to your study; the tool rebuilds the question accordingly.