Scholarly Sources

Evidence-based practice (EBP) principles are used in many professions, including: medicine; nursing; social work; and education.

The EBP model is built on five steps.

1. Ask: Formulate an answerable question
2. Acquire: Use information resources to search for evidence
3. Appraise: Evaluate the evidence in terms of its validity, impact, and applicability to your question
4. Apply: Use the best evidence for your situation, in alignment with local values and your professional expertise
5. Assess: Evaluate the effectiveness of the application

Generally speaking, the reliability and value placed on different types of information according to an EBP paradigm will be ranked thus, with 1 being the most reliable and 6 the least.

1. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
2. Randomized controlled studies
3. Cohort studies
4. Case series
5. Case reports
6. Ideas and opinions

As you work your way from less- to more-reliable, you will notice that the size of data sets and the evaluations and comparisons within them increase. A meta-analysis will study hundreds or thousands of individual cases, which allows for overarching trends to emerge. Individual case studies may not always enable the researcher to determine which characteristics are typical of similar cases and which characteristics pertain only to that particular case.