# Transcript

NARRATOR:
Let's talk about questions. This short course will introduce how literature reviews can be relevant to health and social care practice. Very often, literature reviews begin with a research question.
There are three different broad types of question. Questions of quantity, in which the data comes in the form of numbers. Questions of quality, in which the data comes in the form of words or pictures or anything nonnumerical. Questions of assessment or evaluation, in which the data can be both numerical and nonnumerical. If, for example, you asked, how many GPs work at the local GP practice? That would be a question of quantity. In a research interview if you asked, did you feel you were listened to by your GP? That would be a question of quality. If you wanted to know if the treatment or policy was working, that would be an evaluative question and you might need qualitative and quantitative data to answer that.
A quick way to find an answer to any of these questions might be to search for answers using Google. For example, do patients think GPs listen to them? But one simple question can bring up a huge amount of information.
How would you know that Google has provided you with the best information at the top of the list? You might have thousands of entries to look at. How do you know what to look at first, or how much information to look through? Then you have to think about the reliability of the information. Who, which organization provided that.
Did the organization or person have a biased agenda? What sources of information should you trust and why? In health and social care questions can be complicated. There are questions about health and equality. Is health a post code lottery? There are questions around patient and service user rights.
These questions can involve multiple perspectives and the answers can vary depending on who you ask and the form the question takes. The web gives you plenty of information, but unless you approach that knowledge in a systematic way, your answers may end up being superficial or incomplete. Sum up then-- ask a good question.
You should know what kind of data you require. If you have a good question, it will limit the amount of information you need. An overambitious question may never be truly answerable. To answer a good question, literature reviews need to synthesize the data and information found in relevant research evidence.