Finding and Evaluating Evidence: Systematic Reviews and Evidence-Based Practice

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1 University Press Scholarship Online You are looking at 1-10 of 54 items for: keywords : systematic reviews Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis acprof:oso/ This book aims to make familiar current methods and standards for research synthesis. It describes systematic reviews and metaanalyses, with numerous examples relevant to social work practice and policy. Systematic reviews and meta-analysis can overcome important limitations that are inherent in traditional, narrative summaries of research. The process of conducting a systematic review is described. The book is organized according to the steps involved in conducting a meta-analysis within a systematic review. Finding and Evaluating Evidence: Systematic Reviews and Evidence-Based Practice Denise E. Bronson and Tamara S. Davis January 2012 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ Evidence-based practice (EBP) promises to have a profound impact on social work practice, education, and scholarship, but adopting EBP depends on the availability of evidence to support this endeavour and on strategies to synthesize this information. Systematic reviews provide a comprehensive, unbiased method for retrieving and synthesizing relevant research. Finding and Evaluating Evidence: Systematic Reviews and Evidence-based Practice is a concise introduction to systematic reviews that describes the steps required to complete a review and the criteria that can be used to assess the quality of existing reviews. This pocket guide provides straight-forward information on how to 1) define a search question that clearly defines the parameters of the problem, 2) develop a search strategy that is transparent and comprehensive to insure that all relevant research is included in the Page 1 of 5

2 review, 3) assess the quality and credibility of existing research, and 4) summarize the available research to support EBP in social work. One of the distinguishing features of this book is that both quantitative and qualitative synthesis methods are presented, and examples are provided to illustrate the steps and decisions associated with each approach to research synthesis. This pocket guide is an excellent introduction to EBP and systematic reviews that will be valued by social work students, practitioners, and scholars. Introduction in Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis acprof:oso/ This chapter defines and compares systematic reviews and metaanalyses. Systematic reviews carefully locate relevant evidence and appraise study qualities, while meta-analyses provide quantitative summaries of evidence, showing central trends, variations, and possible explanations for differences in results across studies. The advantages and disadvantages of these review methodologies are discussed, along with appropriate applications and quality standards. Systematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research Michael Saini and Aron Shlonsky Published in print: 2012 Published Online: May 2012 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ Qualitative synthesis within the family of systematic reviews meets an urgent need to use knowledge derived from qualitative studies to inform practice, research, and policy. Despite the contingent nature of evidence gleaned from the synthesis of qualitative studies, systematic synthesis is an important technique and, used judiciously, can deepen our understanding of the contextual dimensions that emerge from qualitative research. This book presents an overview for planning, developing, and implementing qualitative synthesis within existing protocols and guidelines for conducting systematic reviews. The book also explores methodological challenges, including: the philosophical tensions of integrating qualitative synthesis within the family of systematic reviews; the balance of comprehensive and iterative information retrieval Page 2 of 5

3 strategies to locate and screen qualitative research; the use of appraisal tools to assess quality of qualitative studies; the various approaches to synthesize qualitative studies, including interpretive, integrated, and aggregative; and the tensions between the generalizability and transferability of findings that emerge from qualitative synthesis. Understanding and Applying Analytic Tools Ross C. Brownson, Elizabeth A. Baker, Terry L. Leet, Kathleen N. Gillespie, and William R. True in Evidence-Based Public Health Published in print: 2010 Published Online: January 2011 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ This chapter describes several useful tools for evidence-based public health practice. The chapter has five main parts. First, it describes some context and processes for developing systematic reviews and economic evaluations. It then discusses several analytic tools for measuring intervention impact and effectiveness (e.g., systematic reviews, metaanalysis). The third part describes economic evaluation, a set of methods for comparing benefits and costs. One particular type of economic evaluation, cost-utility analysis, is described in greater detail. The fourth section discusses several challenges and opportunities in using these analytic tools. The chapter concludes with a short discussion of processes for translating evidence into public health action (e.g., expert panels, practice guidelines). Systematic reviews Marjolein Gysels and Irene J. Higginson in Research Methods in Palliative Care Published in print: 2007 Published Online: November 2011 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ This chapter introduces systematic reviews and provides a summary of systematic review methods. It highlights the reasons why a researcher should use a systematic review, as well as the instances when systematic reviews are not an ideal research method. It also discusses the different systematic review methods that can be used, such as data extraction and data synthesis. Page 3 of 5

4 Using systematic reviews in health promotion Margaret Thorogood in Evaluating Health Promotion: Practice and Methods Published in print: 2010 Published Online: September 2010 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ A systematic review aims to search for and organize information in a systematic way, using transparent searches and inclusion and exclusion criteria to try, as far as is possible, to provide an unbiased summary of the evidence. This chapter briefly describes how to undertake a systematic review, including the important step of defining the research question, and discusses some of the problems and challenges. Using examples, it describes some of the ways in which a systematic reviews can be used in evaluating health promotion, and how to evaluate the quality and relevance of such reviews. Formulating a Topic and Developing a Protocol in Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis acprof:oso/ This chapter considers issues in formulating a research question and developing a protocol for a systematic review. The protocol is a written plan, which specifies the objectives of the review, study eligibility criteria (the populations, interventions, comparisons, outcomes, and research designs that will be included), and methodological issues, including search strategies and plans for data extraction, data analysis, and synthesis. The chapter discusses the composition of review teams, involvement of stakeholders, and uses of logic models in planning a systematic review. Meta-analyses and Systematic Reviews Curtis L. Meinert in An Insider s Guide to Clinical Trials September 2011 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ Page 4 of 5

5 A meta-analysis is an analysis using either aggregate results or individual patient data from published trials. It is done to provide a more comprehensive and informative view of results than is possible with any single trial. A related activity is systematic review. Such reviews, as applied to trials, typically involve efforts to identify all trials relevant to the question of interest, whether published or not, critical appraisals of the trials, and ultimately, a conclusion as to the weight of evidence for or against the treatment. Such reviews may or may not involve formal meta-analyses. Most meta-analyses, in contrast with systematic reviews, are based exclusively on published trials. Systematic Reviews, Evidence-Based Practice, and Social Work Denise E. Bronson and Tamara S. Davis in Finding and Evaluating Evidence: Systematic Reviews and Evidence-Based Practice January 2012 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ The importance of systematic reviews to support evidence-based practice in social work is stressed and the related concepts and definitions of terms are presented. The steps for completing a systematic review are described together with the value of systematic reviews for social work practice, policy and future research. The chapter concludes with an overview of the book s organization around three of the key steps needed to complete a systematic review identifying, retrieving, and critically appraising intervention research. Page 5 of 5