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Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences

Purpose of a Systematic Review

A systematic review is a very thorough and comprehensive analysis of all relevant studies on a very specialized topic. A systematic review is a unique analysis on existing literature surrounding a focused research question using very strict criteria for what studies are included and excluded from the analysis. As we write a systematic review, we are: 

  • Demonstrating your knowledge of your very specialized research topic
  • Using a very specific methodology to identify all relevant studies on a specific topic
  • Selecting specific studies for incorporation based on inclusion/exclusion criteria
  • Using an extremely transparent framework so anyone can replicate and reproduce your findings
  • Potentially incorporating statistical meta-analysis to demonstrate and reinforce our conclusions. 

Systematic reviews often:

  • Take months to years to complete to ensure a thorough evaluation of the subject
  • Involve more than one author to eliminate and contradict bias

 

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