Sports Medicine

There are two main types of research questions, and the type of question determines where you should look for your evidence. Failing to identify what parts of your research topic are actually background can cause a lot of frustration when clinical articles do not contain the information you need to illuminate that background context.

Background Questions:

Background questions concern the more fundamental aspects of a concept or topic, and are often answered with well-established knowledge or evidence.

Anyone who is new to a research discipline will have to ask background questions and gather that fundamental knowledge before begining to investige more nuanced, clinical questions.

Examples of background questions:

• What is the etiology of anterior cruciate ligament injuries?
• What is best practice in screening for future hamstring injuries in athletes?
• What is the prognosis of ADHD?

Resources where answers to background questions can be found:

Foreground or Clinical Questions

Foreground or clinical questions are generally more specific than background questions, and seek to answer questions often seen in a clinical setting, where specific individuals present with specific injuries, and the effectiveness of a specific treatment is often the major concern. Research articles

Examples of Clinical Questions:

• In teenage female athletes with anterior cruciate ligament injuries, how do injury prevention programs affect rates of reinjury?
• In athletes with significant hamstring injury risk factors, does screening multiple times in a season improve the identification of future injury risk?
• Is participation in team sports more effective in reducing the symptoms of ADHD in adults than aerobic exercise alone?

Resources where answers to clinical questions can be found:

Electronic textbooks are a great source of background evidence

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