Asking better questions

Ask questions (and getting the answers) creates the climate for life long learning? For more on LifeLong Learning Click Here.

How do we improve our questions?

To perform well we need both competence and motivation. Competence requires a set of knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes.

This section aims to help you ask better questions. If you have any suggestions (or questions) about this section email contact@bristolgpsolutions.org.uk

What is Knowledge?

This is information combined with experience, context, interpretation and reflection. Tacit knowledge is personal know-how (ie knowing your way home), explicit knowledge can be expressed with symbols or physical objects like guidelines, or instructions (ie the map and instructions that direct you to someone else's home). Learning usually involves converting someone else’s explicit knowledge into your own tacit knowledge.

How do adults learn?

A practical version of adult learning theory runs as follows:

1. Adults only want to solutions to the problems they have already got.
2. Adults want to be involved and interactive in their learning.
3. Adults are busy people so they don’t want their time wasted.

How do adults change their behaviour?

The transtheoretical theory of change encompasses the diverse theories of change and psychotherapy and recognises that an individual goes through stages of change (pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance and termination) and uses different change process at different stages of change (e.g consciousness raising, social liberation, emotional arousal, self revelation, commitment, reward, countering, environmental control and helping relationships). Understanding and using the stages and different processes helps the teaching and learning process. An overview is available at http://www.uri.edu/research/cprc/TTM/detailedoverview.htm

How do you ask a clinical question?

The question should be directly relevant to the problem at hand. Next the question should be phrased to aid searching for a precise answer. To achieve these aims the question must be focused and well articulated for all 4 parts of its structure

1. The problem being addressed
2. The intervention or exposure being considered
3. The comparison intervention or exposure (when relevant)
4. The clinical outcomes of interest

Most questions arise from 6 aspects of clinical work

• Clinical evidence: How to gather clinical findings properly and interpret them soundly
• Diagnosis: How to select and interpret diagnostic tests
• Prognosis: How to anticipate the patient’s likely course
• Therapy: How to select treatments that do more harm than good
• Prevention: How to screen and reduce the risk for disease
• Education: How to teach yourself, the patient and the family what is needed