Research questions, hypotheses and objectives

Article Figures & Tables

F	Feasible	Adequate number of subjects Adequate technical expertise Affordable in time and money Manageable in scope
I	Interesting	Getting the answer intrigues investigator, peers and community
N	Novel	Confirms, refutes or extends previous findings
E	Ethical	Amenable to a study that institutional review board will approve
R	Relevant	To scientific knowledge To clinical and health policy To future research

P	Population (patients)	What specific patient population are you interested in?
I	Intervention (for intervention studies only)	What is your investigational intervention?
C	Comparison group	What is the main alternative to compare with the intervention?
O	Outcome of interest	What do you intend to accomplish, measure, improve or affect?
T	Time	What is the appropriate follow-up time to assess outcome