Chapter 22 Flashcards
What is a systematic review?
Careful compilation and summary of all publications relevant to a particular research topic.
What is a meta-analysis?
It creates a summary statistic for the results of systematically identified articles
A review article in the health sciences requires:
1) An extensive search of the literature
2) The extraction of key information from relevant articles
3) The clear and concise presentation of this information
What is one way to become an expert in the literature on a well-defined topic?
Writing a review article (a narrative review, systematic review, or meta-analysis).
What often becomes foundational for a new research in the field?
Well written and comprehensive review articles, because they summarize what is known about an area of inquiry.
What is more frequently cited in an individual field study:
Published review articles or the typical article? Why?
Published review articles, because they provide a concise summary of the literature.
What are the limitations of review articles?
1) Not all journals publish review articles, so their likelihood of publication might be lower than that of other study approaches.
2) Reviews are sometimes regarded as exhibiting less originality than other types of scholarship. Reviews are perceived to be a less rigorous form of research than projects collecting new data and/or involving statistical analysis.
When starting a tertiary analysis, the most important decision is:
The selection of a topic that is narrow enough that all the relevant publications can be acquired.
The topic may need to be modified after a preliminary search depending on:
The number of articles available; if a search yields only eight articles, the topic needs to be expanded. If the search yields 400 articles, the topic needs to be narrowed.
No review article can be written without:
Excellent library access, because EVERY relevant article must be identified and obtained during a systematic review.
Before starting a review project, a researcher should check with a University librarian regarding:
1) The libraries journal access policies
2) The fees that patrons may have to pay to acquire articles that are not part of the libraries collections or subscription services.
The researcher must prepare to maintain a meticulous system for:
Tracking articles that I’ve already been acquired, those that have been requested but not yet received, and those that need to be requested.
What are narrative reviews?
They tell a story about a topic using evidence from the literature to support the “plot“.
Narrative reviews are intended to:
Convey a perspective and NOT just compile facts.
Narrative reviews must be carefully organized by:
Theme, methodology, chronology, or some other guiding principle.
When a researcher has developed a unique conceptual framework or theory that can be illustrated with examples from the literature, which kind of review may be appropriate?
Narrative review
This type of review works best when the researcher has a unique perspective on a topic and/or a particular expertise in the field that can be drawn on without using a systematic search strategy.
Narrative review.
What are systematic reviews?
They use a predetermined and comprehensive searching and screening method to identify relevant articles.
Which type of review is designed to minimize the bias that might occur when researchers handpick the articles they want to highlight?
Systematic reviews.
After the identification of a focus study question, the most important decisions in a systematic review are:
The selection of keywords and inclusion criteria.