Conducting Systematic Reviews: Books
The databases listed under Finding Systematic Reviews would also be the databases to use when searching for resources to use in a systematic review. Some useful books that provide more information about how to conduct reviews are listed below.
Finding and Evaluating Evidence by
Evidence-based practice (EBP) promises to have a profound impact on social work practice, education, and scholarship, but adopting EBP depends on the availability and accessibility of evidence and on strategies to synthesize this information. Systematic reviews provide a comprehensive,unbiased method for retrieving and synthesizing relevant research. This pocket guide is a concise introduction that describes the steps required to complete a systematic review and the criteria that can be used to assess the quality of existing reviews. The authors provide straightforward information on how to define a search question that captures the problem's parameters, develop a search strategy that is transparent and comprehensive, assess the quality and credibility of existing research, and summarize the available research to support EBP insocial work. Providing coverage for both quantitative and qualitative synthesis methods, examples illustrate the steps and decisions associated with each approach to research synthesis. Key points and suggested readings and websites provide avenues for further study. This pocket guide is anexcellent introduction to EBP and systematic reviews that will be valued by social work students, practitioners, and scholars.
Location: Find onlinePublication Date: 2011
Systematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research by
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 synthesis of qualitative studies, systematic synthesis is animportant technique and, used judiciously, can deepen understanding of the contextual dimensions that emerge from qualitative research. This pocket guide presents an overview for planning, developing, and implementing qualitative synthesis within existing protocols and guidelines for conductingsystematic reviews. The authors also explore methodological challenges, including: the philosophical tensions of integrating qualitative synthesis within the family of systematic reviews; the balance of comprehensive and iterative information retrieval strategies to locate and screen qualitative research; the use ofappraisal 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.Social work researchers, educators, and doctoral students who are interested in systematic reviews will find the step-by-step format of this book invaluable for conducting their reviews, both in the form of rapid evidence assessments and in high-quality critical reviews.
Location: Find OnlinePublication Date: 2012
Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis by
When used in tandem, systematic reviews and meta-analysis-- two distinct but highly compatible approaches to research synthesis-- form a powerful, scientific approach to analyzing previous studies. But to see their full potential, a social work researcher must be versed in the foundationalprocesses underlying them. This pocket guide to Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis illuminates precisely that practical groundwork. In clear, step-by-step terms, the authors explain how to format topics, locate and screen studies, extract and assess data, pool effect sizes, determine bias, and interpret the results, showing readers how to combine reviewing and meta-analysis correctly and effectively. Each chapter containsvivid social work examples and concludes with a concise summary and notes on further reading, while the book's glossary and handy checklists and sample search and data extraction forms maximize the boo'ks usefulness. Highlighting the concepts necessary to understand, critique, and conduct research synthesis, this brief and highly readable introduction is a terrific resource for students and researchers alike.
Location: Find OnlinePublication Date: 2008
Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences by
Such diverse thinkers as Lao-Tze, Confucius, and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have all pointed out that we need to be able to tell the difference between real and assumed knowledge. The systematic review is a scientific tool that can help with this difficult task. It can help, for example, with appraising, summarising, and communicating the results and implications of otherwise unmanageable quantities of data. This book, written by two highly-respected social scientists, provides an overview of systematic literature review methods: Outlining the rationale and methods of systematic reviews; Giving worked examples from social science and other fields; Applying the practice to all social science disciplines; It requires no previous knowledge, but takes the reader through the process stage by stage; Drawing on examples from such diverse fields as psychology, criminology, education, transport, social welfare, public health, and housing and urban policy, among others. Including detailed sections on assessing the quality of both quantitative, and qualitative research; searching for evidence in the social sciences; meta-analytic and other methods of evidence synthesis; publication bias; heterogeneity; and approaches to dissemination.
Location: Mugar Stacks H62 P457 2006Publication Date: 2006
Other Resources With Videos and Review Tips
- Part 2: General Methods for Cochrane Reviews Chapter 5: Defining the review question and developing criteria for including studies Chapter 6: Searching for studies Chapter 7: Selecting studies and collecting data Chapter 8: Assessing risk of bias in included studies Chapter 9: Analysing data and undertaking meta-analyses Chapter 10: Addressing reporting biases Chapter 11: Presenting results and ‘Summary of findings’ tables Chapter 12: Interpreting results and drawing conclusions
- Encyclopedia of Social work Provides an extensive chapter on systematic reviews that includes standards and guidelines and systematic review methods. Has links to many other resources.
- An Introduction to Conducting Systematic Reviews A YouTube presentation
