week 1 Flashcards
What does a Lit Review does?
Identifies, evaluates and synthesises the relevant literature within a particular field. **Integration*
What does a lit review highlights?
- what has been done
- what is generally accepted
- what is the current state of the topic
- what is emerging
- what are the gaps in knowledge
Narrative review definition
Qualitatively summarises evidence on a topic using informal or subjective methods to collect and interpret studies.
Systematic review definition
High-level overview of primary research on a FOCUSED question that identifies, selects, synthesizes, and appraises all high quality research evidence relevant to that question.
narrative review goal
provide a summary or overview of a topic
Systematic review goal
- answer a focused clinical question
- Eliminate bias
systematic vs narrative (1)
Systematic:
- clearly defined and answerable qstn (use PICO)
- 3 or more authors
- months to years
- search of ALL relevant databases
- explicit search protocols
- explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria
Narrative:
- general topic or specific
- one or more authors
- weeks to months
- search of one or more database
average time to complete a systematic review
8 months
Systematic review components:
- eligibility criteria
- systematic search strategy
- validity of findings
- interpretation of results
- ref list
narrative components:
- Intro
- Methods
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- Ref list
Sys. review value
connects practicing clinicians to high quality evidence.
supports evidence-based practise.
Meta-analysis
Include a statistical analysis resources
integrate results of the studies
best if inside a systematic review.
Propsero
international data based for systematic reviews
thinks to ask yourself when starting a research quesiton
- Define your variable
- Decribe its context, how common it is, the effect they have..
- Why is it a problem? and why do you want to treat them? (gaps).
- outline existing treatments, and why do we need a new treatment or a new approach.
- describe second variable.
- link to first variable
- existing evidence
synthesis
highlights important points AND your observations of related texts.
supported by various sources.
compared and contrast. multiple sources at once.
makes connections ( supports, refute, similar concepts opposng /sim methodologies).
Research question origins
supervisors advice review of the literature (to identify gaps) Alert to new ideas and techniques Creativity impactful regardless of findings.
Steps in a research project
-Define clear question
-Hypothesis
-design a study to investigate (what data is needed, who and what time? must be feasible)
-observe/record/ gather data (any issues collecting the data?)
-examining the data (wht does the data tells you? )
-interpret data ( what are other possible expplanations?)
-summarise findings
(how representative they are)
FINER formula for formulating research question
Feasible Interesting Novel Ethical Relevant (contributes to the 'so what' test)
Very narrowed questions
- could lead to biased interpretations.
- limited generalisability.
very broad quesitons
- difficult to test
- difficulty with methods and recruitment
research questions type of questions
who, when ,where, for what?
Technique to formulate answerable research questions
PICO(S)
PICOS def
P - population/problem I - Intervention/ Exposure C- comparison/ control O- outcome S - Study design (optional)
types of research questions
- interventions
- aetiology, risk factor
- frequency
- diagnosis
- prognosis, prediction
- phenomena
Interventions involve:
treatments, therapies to treat diseas or conditions
Aetiology, Risk factor involes:
What cause the problem? Outcomes of an activity/exposure
Frequency
what is the frequency of the problem
diagnosis
does this person have the problem?
prognosis, prediction
who will get the problem?
phenomena
observations of a situation.
open question
Hypothesis Testing
A proposed explanation made on the basis of incomplete evidence, but used as a starting point for further
investigation
Hypothesis testing
A simplified & specific version of the research question that summarises the main elements of the study
Are hypothesis needed for descriptive studies?
NO :)
When are hypothesis essential?
when any test of statistical significance will be used to compare findings among groups
What terms indicate need of a hypothesis?
greater than, less than , causes, leads to, compared with, more likely than, related to, similar to , correlated with.
what does study design determines?
the way the study will be conducted including SAMPLING (who, what, when) and what type of information (DATA) will gathered
more important than the analyse –poor analysed data can be reanalysed but bad designed cannot be retrieved.
what does the study design affects?
results and conclusions drawn
what does the study design also govern?
methods used,
how data are analysed
aim optimise to answe the r. question.
Why is important to determine a clear ;testable ‘ research question?
to be able to determine the most appropriate study desgn
