Integrative Review Capstone Toolkit

The general steps for formulating an integrative review topic and articulating a research question include:

1. Pick an area of interest
2. Conduct background research on this broad topic
3. Explore/interrogate aspects of your topic to narrow your focus
4. Identify core variables and apply a question framework 

Given the amount of time and work that goes into an integrative review, it is helpful to pick a topic that reflects your own interests, as well as topics that are timely and relevant to the scholarship in your field.  As you brainstorm topics, consider:

• What are you curious about? What do you care about? 
  • Reflective journaling could be helpful at this stage
• What are hot topics in the popular discourse about nursing, education, or both?
  • You might find it helpful to read news and magazine articles as an way to inspire topics for your own research.  (e.g., try searching the New York Times for keywords like 'nurses', 'nurse education', or 'higher education')
• What are hot topics or recent trends in the scholarship of nursing, higher education, or nursing education?
  • Try browsing the tables of contents of important nursing education journals like Nurse Educator, or reading through the titles of recent presentations at relevant conferences (e.g., the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's Academic Nursing Leadership Conference
  • Browse the National Academy of Medicine's Future of Nursing 2020-2030 report for topics that pique your interest
  • Search ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Global database to see what kinds of dissertations/theses may have already been written on your topic
    • search ([topic of interest] AND nursing)

Locating background information is a crucial step in forming a review question.  For any topic of interest, brainstorm background questions that might related to that topic and provide foundational understanding of the topic.  

Background questions are typically who, what, where, when, why, and how questions that pertain to a particular population, phenomenon, intervention, program, or outcome of interest.  For example, if I were interested in the training of new nurse educators, I would need to explore questions like:

• What are the professional qualifications and typical career trajectories for nurse educators?
• What are the different kinds of preparation/training that novice nurse educators typically experience before teaching nursing students?
• Are there any state, national, or local standards that nursing educators must meet? Who sets those standards?

Background information can be found in a variety of places, but especially those sources that would be considered secondary sources, like review articles, reference resources and book chapters.

Suggested Sources for Background Information

Review Articles

For review articles, run a search for your topic of interest in one of the major health sciences databases like PubMed or CINAHL, then apply a publication type limit for Review articles.  Also consider Cochrane Reviews, which offers systematic reviews on health topics.

Reference Resources / Point of Care Tools

For reference materials, consider a multi-disciplinary reference tool (e.g., Credo Reference), or a subject-specific reference resource (e.g., Nursing Reference Center, or an education encyclopedia)

Books

For a complete list of databases that may provide helpful background information in the health sciences, see the Find Books/Syntheses/Background Info page.

With an area of interest in mind, consider the more specific facts you could focus on.  It is helpful to identify the who, what, where, when and why aspects related to your topic, in order to begin to narrow and refine a question.  

Mind mapping, or concept mapping may be a useful activity for identifying ways to focus or refine a research question for your paper.  The following 3 minute video from the UCLA Library offers helpful tips for mapping your research ideas:

[Transcript available by viewing video on YouTube]

With a more specific research question or topic in mind, consider the core variables that will make up your research focus.  These defining these variables will help you describe the features of the studies or papers that you attempt to locate and synthesize for your review.  

Question frameworks are helpful for turning variables of interest into a question that can be addressed within the literature.  These frameworks help you identify and organize the variables that make up your question (which will guide the literature search and study selection process).  

 Across most frameworks, you’ll often be considering:

• a who (who was studied - a population or sample)
• a what (what was done or examined - an intervention, an exposure, a policy, a program, a phenomenon)
• a how ([how] did the [what] affect the [who] - an outcome, an effect). 

Question Frameworks to Consider

PICO (Problem/Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome)

Appropriate for: assessing the effect of an intervention

Example: What is the effect of instruction via web-based video lectures on the achievement of learning outcomes in among nursing students compared to exclusive use of in-person instruction?

PEO (Population, Exposure, Outcome)

Appropriate for: describing association between particular exposures/risk factors and outcomes

Example: How do preparation programs influence the development of teaching competence among novice nurse educators?

SPIDER (Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, Research Type)

Appropriate for: questions of experience or perspectives (questions that may be addressed by qualitative or mixed methods research)

Example: What are the experiences and perspectives of undergraduate nursing students in clinical placements within prison healthcare settings?

SPICE (Setting, Perspective, Intervention/phenomenon of Interest, Comparison, Evaluation)

Appropriate for: evaluating the outcomes of a service, project, or intervention

Example: What are the impacts and best practices for workplace transition support programs for the retention of newly-hired, new graduate nurses?

PCC (Problem/population, Concept, Context)

Appropriate for: broader (scoping) questions

Example: How do nursing schools teach, measure, and maintain nursing students' technological literacy throughout their educational programs?