Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026

Extraction of Venom and Venom Gland Microdissections from Spiders for Proteomic and Transcriptomic Analyses
Published on: November 3, 2014
Beyond PICO: the SPIDER tool for qualitative evidence synthesis
Alison Cooke1, Debbie Smith, Andrew Booth
1Central Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom. Alison.Cooke@manchester.ac.uk
This study introduces SPIDER, a new search strategy for qualitative research, as an alternative to the PICO framework. SPIDER aims to improve the retrieval of qualitative and mixed-methods studies.
Area of Science:
- Health Sciences
- Information Science
Background:
- Systematic search strategies are crucial for research rigor.
- Existing search tools, like PICO, primarily retrieve quantitative research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To address limitations of PICO for qualitative and mixed methods research.
- To introduce and evaluate the SPIDER search strategy tool for qualitative/mixed methods research.
Main Methods:
- Compared PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) and SPIDER (Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, Research type) search strategies.
- Applied both SPIDER and PICO to a qualitative research question.
Main Results:
- The SPIDER tool offers a framework for qualitative and mixed methods research questions.
- Highlighted the need for better indexing of qualitative articles in databases.
Conclusions:
- SPIDER advances search strategy thinking beyond PICO for qualitative research.
- SPIDER requires further refinement and testing to become a viable alternative to PICO.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Qualitative Analysis
For instance, group IV...
Qualitative Analysis
There are two main approaches to qualitative analysis:...
Methods of Documentation III: PIE
Decision Making: P-value Method
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is proposed. The claim is based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to the claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses: a null hypothesis would be a neutral statement while the alternative hypothesis can have a...
Chi-square Analysis
The chi-square test was developed by Pearson in 1990.
The first step of performing a Chi-square analysis is to establish a null hypothesis, which assumes that there is no real...
Electron Microscope Tomography and Single-particle Reconstruction
Electron Tomography
Electron tomography can be performed either in TEM or STEM (scanning transmission...

