Group Elmo Research Proposal
N Chase-Iverson, L Galloway, GWiley, G Vander Sluis
March 23, 2003
Problem Statement
As more and more people access the Internet to determine answers
to their general medical queries, it is important they choose a
search tool that provides relevant results
Research Question
Which major web search tools provides the average users with
the most relevant results for general medical queries?
Tools to Use
Google, AlltheWeb, MSN
Hypothesis
Google will provide the most relevant results for general medical queries
Methodology
In order to determine which search tools provides the most relevant
results for general medical queries, we developed a detailed research plan
in which we chose general health topics, formulated a question based on the
topic, developed a basic search strategy, and obtained an authoritative
answer for each question These steps were completed prior to performing
the actual search and evaluating the results Our process is outlined
below:
A
Each group member consulted the MEDLINEPlus web site at
http://wwwnlmnihgov/medlineplus/healthtopicshtml and chose
two health topics from the Frequently Requested Topics list
The eight chosen topics are as follows:
Psoriasis
Lupus
Diabetes
Fibromyalgia
High blood pressure
Smallpox
Pneumonia
Colorectal cancer
B
Based on the chosen topics, each group member then performed a
FAQ search to determine a commonly asked question about the
chosen topic Refer to the table below for the commonly asked
questions
Note: For example, the chosen topic is smoking The group
members performed a search smoking FAQ, evaluated the
results, and chose a commonly asked question about smoking
|Topic |Question |
|Psoriasis |How many cases of psoriasis are |
| |diagnosed each year in the Unites |
| |States? |
|Lupus |Are there different types of Lupus? |
|Diabetes |What are the most common health
|
| |complications associated with Type I |
| |or Type II diabetes? |
|Fibromyalgia |How is fibromyalgia diagnosed? |
|High blood |Does drinking too much coffee cause |
|pressure |high blood pressure? |
|Smallpox |Is there any treatment for smallpox? |
|Pneumonia |What are the symptoms of bacterial |
| |pneumonia? |
|Colorectal cancer|How is colorectal cancer treated? |
C
Based on the commonly asked questions, each group member
developed basic search queries using key terms from the chosen
questions see table below and performed the task listed below
Note
|Topic |Question |Query refer to Note |
| | |above |
|Psoriasis |How many cases of |psoriasis year |
| |psoriasis are diagnosed |diagnosis |
| |each year in the Unites | |
| |States?
| |
|Lupus |Are there different types |lupus types |
| |of Lupus? | |
|Diabetes |What are the most common |diabetes complications|
| |health complications | |
| |associated with Type I or | |
| |Type II diabetes? | |
|Fibromyalgia |How is fibromyalgia |fibromyalgia diagnosis|
| |diagnosed? | |
|High blood |Does drinking too much |high blood pressure |
|pressure |coffee cause high blood |cause coffee |
| |pressure? | |
|Smallpox |Is there any treatment for|smallpox treatment |
| |smallpox? | |
|Pneumonia |What are the symptoms of |bacterial pneumonia |
| |bacterial pneumonia? |symptoms |
|Colorectal cancer|How is colorectal cancer |colorectal cancer |
| |treated? |treatment
|
1 The entire group evaluated whether each members queries were
appropriate prior to performing the searches to guard
against biased results
D
For use in evaluating the results, each group member consulted
the MEDLINEPlus web site to help determine authoritative answers
to the questions/queries determined above Refer to the table
below for a summary of the authoritative answers and
corresponding sources
|Topic |Question |Answer Summary |
|Psoriasis |How many cases |About 150,000 new cases are diagnosed |
| |of psoriasis |each year |
| |are diagnosed | |
| |each year in |Sources: |
| |the Unites |http://wwwskincarephysicianscom/psori|
| |States? |asisnet/mythsANDfactshtmcured |
| | |American Academy of Dermatology |
| | |http://wwwpsoriasisorg/facts/faq/ |
| |
|National Psoriasis Foundation |
| | |http://wwwaadorg/pamphlets/Psoriasis|
| | |html American Academy of Dermatology |
|Lupus |Are there |Yes They include the following forms: |
| |different types|-Systemic lupus erythematosus SLE |
| |of Lupus? |-Discoid lupus erythematosus |
| | |-Drug-induced lupus |
| | |-Neonatal lupus |
| | | |
| | |Note: Three out of four types listed |
| | |above will be considered an accurate |
| | |answer |
| | | |
| | |Sources: |
| | |http://wwwniamsnihgov/hi/topics/lupu|
| | |s/ slehandout/indexhtm National |
| | |Institute of Arthritis and |
| |
|Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases |
| | |http://wwwlupusorg/education/faqhtml|
| | |3 Lupus Foundation of America |
| | |http://wwwlupusresearchorg/ |
| | |faqs_lupushtml Alliance for Lupus |
| | |Research |
|Diabetes |What are the |Common health complications include: |
| |most common |Heart Disease, Stroke, High Blood |
| |health |Pressure, Eye/Damage, Blindness, Kidney|
| |complications |Disease, Nervous System Disease, |
| |associated with|Amputations, Dental Disease, |
| |Type I or Type |complications in pregnancy, kidney |
| |II diabetes? |disease/failure, skin conditions |
| | | |
| | |Note: At least five of the |
| | |complications listed above will be |
| | |considered an accurate answer |
| | |
|
| | |Sources: |
| | |http://wwwniddknihgov/health/diabete|
| | |s/pubs/dmstats/dmstatshtm13 National|
| | |Diabetes Statistics from the National |
| | |Diabetes Information Clearinghouse |
| | |http://wwwdiabetesorg/main/applicatio|
| | |n/commercewf?originjspeventlinkD3|
| | |_8 American Diabetes Association |
| | |http://wwwcdcgov/nccdphp/pe_factsheet|
| | |s/pe_ddthtm National Center for |
| | |Chronic Disease Prevention and Health |
| | |Promotion |
|Fibromyalgia|How is |For a diagnosis of fibromyalgia, at |
| |fibromyalgia |least 11 of 18 specific areas of your |
| |diagnosed? |body must be painful under pressure |
| | |Also, you must have had widespread pain|
| | |lasting at least 3
months |
| | | |
| | |Sources: |
| | |http://wwwmayocliniccom/invokecfm?id|
| | |DS00079 Mayo Clinic |
| | |http://wwwniamsnihgov/hi/topics/fibr|
| | |omyalgia/fibrofshtmfib_d National |
| | |Institute of Arthritis and |
| | |Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases |
| | |http://wwwfmpartnershiporg/documents/|
| | |sidetable PDF Fibromyalgia Tender |
| | |Points Identified By the American |
| | |College of Rheumatology in 1990 |
| | |National Fibromyalgia Partnership |
|High blood |Does drinking |Caffeine in coffee as well as in other |
|pressure |too much coffee|drinks, such as tea and sodas, only |
| |cause high |raises blood pressure temporarily So |
| |blood pressure?|you should be able to continue
to have |
| | |drinks that contain caffeine, unless |
| | |you are sensitive to it or have heart |
| | |disease and your doctor tells you not |
| | |to have any |
| | | |
| | |Sources: |
| | |http://wwwnhlbinihgov/hbp/prevent/fa|
| | |ctors/coffeehtm |
| | |http://wwwamericanheartorg/presenter|
| | |jhtml?identifier3006582 |
| | |http://wwwamericanheartorg/presenter|
| | |jhtml?identifier4445 |
|Smallpox |Is there any |Smallpox can be prevented through use |
| |treatment for |of the smallpox vaccine There is no |
| |smallpox? |proven treatment for smallpox, but |
| | |research to evaluate new antiviral |
| | |agents is ongoing Early results from
|
| | |laboratory studies suggest that the |
| | |drug cidofovir may fight against the |
| | |smallpox virus; currently, studies with|
| | |animals are being done to better |
| | |understand the drugs ability to treat |
| | |smallpox disease the use of cidofovir |
| | |to treat smallpox or smallpox reactions|
| | |should be evaluated and monitored by |
| | |experts at NIH and CDC Patients with |
| | |smallpox can benefit from supportive |
| | |therapy eg, intravenous fluids, |
| | |medicine to control fever or pain and |
| | |antibiotics for any secondary bacterial|
| | |infections that may occur updated Dec|
| | |2, 2002 |
| | | |
| | |Source: |
|
| |http://wwwbtcdcgov/agent/smallpox/ov|
| | |erview/faqaspgeneral CDC |
|Pneumonia |What are the |The main symptoms start with severe |
| |symptoms of |shaking chills, high fever, cough, |
| |bacterial |shortness of breath, rapid breathing, |
| |pneumonia? |and chest pains Also may include: |
| | |nausea, vomiting, headache, tiredness, |
| | |muscle aches |
| | | |
| | |Note: At least five of the above |
| | |symptoms will be considered an accurate|
| | |answer |
| | | |
| | |Sources: |
| | |http://wwwmayocliniccom/invokecfm?id|
| | |DS00135 |
| | |Mayo Foundation for Medical Education |
|
| |and Research |
| | |http://wwwniaidnihgov/factsheets/pne|
| | |umoniahtm National Institute of |
| | |Allergy and Infectious Diseases |
|Colorectal |How is |Treatment depends mainly on the size, |
|cancer |colorectal |location, and extent of the tumor, and |
| |cancer treated?|on the patients general health |
| | |Several different types of treatment |
| | |are used to treat colorectal cancer |
| | |Sometimes different treatments are |
| | |combined They include surgery most |
| | |common, chemotherapy, radiation |
| | |therapy, biological therapy, and |
| | |clinical trials |
| | | |
| | |Sources: |
| | |http://wwwmayocliniccom/invokecfm?id|
| |
|DS00035 |
| | |Mayo Foundation for Medical Education |
| | |and Research |
| | |http://wwwcancergov/cancerinfo/wyntk/|
| | |colon-and-rectum11 |
| | |National Cancer Institute |
E
Each group member will then present his or her basic search
queries to each of the search tools Google, AlltheWeb, MSN and
review the top ten resultseb, MSN The top ten results of each
search will be saved
Notes: Group members will ignore advertising/sponsored
links Results that indicate duplicate URLs or pages from
the same site will not be counted as part of the top ten
Group members will continue to view the results until 10
non-duplicate sites are obtained
F
Each group member will evaluate the relevancy of the top ten
results from each search based on accuracy and
authoritativeness, as described
below
Evaluation
The group members will rank the results based on an assigned point scale:
Question 1 - Accuracy
Compared to the authoritative answers obtained in Step 45, did the web
page adequately answer the question/query?
YES 5 points
NO 0 points
Question 23 - Authoritativeness
Does the web page pass the Health On the Net HON Foundations
HONcode Site-Checker test, thereby ensuring its adherence to the
principles outlined in HON Code of Conduct?
HONcode Site-Checker test:
http://wwwhonch/HONcode/HONcode_checkhtml
HON Code of Conduct:
http://wwwhonch/HONcode/Conducthtml
YES 5 points
NO 0 points
Note: The HONcode Site-Checker test has been fully adopted as
our authoritativeness measure Each web page will be evaluated
as instructed by the test
Therefore, based on our evaluation criteria, a truly relevant site would
obtain a perfect score of 10 The results will be presented both
graphically and textually so comparisons between the search tools can
be
made
Source:susqu.edu
