Table of Contents
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xv
About the Author xvii
1 Reviewing the Literature: Why? For Whom? How? 1
A Reader's Guide 1
Purpose of This Chapter 2
What Is a Research Literature Review? Why Do One? 3
Write Proposals for Funding 6
Write Proposals for Academic Degrees 7
Describe and Explain Current Knowledge to Guide Professional Practice 8
Identify Effective Research and Development Methods 9
Identify Experts to Help Interpret Existing Literature and Identify Unpublished Sources of Information 9
Identify Funding Sources and Works in Progress 10
Satisfy Personal Curiosity 10
Gaining Control: Experiments and Observations 13
An Experimental Study 14
An Observational Study 15
Systematic, Explicit, Comprehensive, and Reproducible: Four Key Words 15
Choosing an Online Bibliographic Database 16
Public and Private Online Bibliographic Databases 16
What Exactly Do You Need to Find? 20
How Do You Search for What You Want to Find? Key Words, Descriptors, Identifiers, and the Thesaurus 21
How Do You Ask for Information? Searching With Boolean Operators 28
Three Examples of Boolean Logic 28
Using the Web of Science: A Case Study 33
Pausing During the Search 35
Changing the Course of the Search 35
Changing the Course of a Literature Review Search: Expanding the Scope 36
Supplementing the Online Search 36
Reasons to Supplement Electronic Searches 36
Reviewing References in High-Quality Studies 37
Is Everything Worthwhile Published? 38
Bring in the Experts 39
Cautiously Approach the Web 41
Organizing the Research Literature: Building a Virtual Filing Cabinet 43
Summary of Key Points 44
Exercises 45
Answers49
Online Literature Reviews 51
Suggested Readings 53
Notes 54
2 Searching and Screening: The Practical Screen and Methodological Quality (Part 1-Research Design and Sampling) 55
A Reader's Guide 55
Purpose of This Chapter 56
Search Screen 1: The Practical Screen 59
Including and Excluding Studies: Typical Practical Screening Criteria for Literature Review Searches 59
Practical Screening Criteria: Using Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria 61
Search Screen 2: Methodological Quality Screening Criteria, Part 1-Research Design and Sampling 62
Criterion for Quality: Research Design 63
Random Selection and Random Assignment: Two Examples 66
Concurrent Controls but No Random Assignment 69
Self-Controls 71
Historical Controls of Existing Data 73
Observational Designs in Brief 74
Cohort Designs 74
Case Control Designs 78
A Note on Other Designs and Studies: Cross-Sectional Surveys and Consensus Statements 80
Cross-Sectional Surveys 80
Consensus Statements 84
Books 84
Internal and External Validity 84
Criterion for Quality: Sampling 88
What Is a Sample? 88
Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria or Eligibility of Subjects 89
Methods of Sampling 91
Simple Random Sampling 92
Systematic Sampling 92
Stratified Sampling 92
Cluster Sampling 93
Convenience Sampling 94
The Sampling Unit 94
The Size of the Sample 95
Response Rate 95
Nonresponse: Subjects and Items 96
Summary of Key Points 99
Exercises 103
Answers 105
Suggested Readings 106
3 Searching and Screening: Methodological Quality (Part 2-Collection, Interventions, Analysis, Results, and Conclusions) 109
A Reader's Guide 109
Purpose of This Chapter 110
Data Collection and Data Sources: Methods and Measures 110
Reliability 114
Validity 116
Interventions and Programs: Reviewing the Research Literature to Find Out What Works 120
Two Versions of a Program Description 121
Information Analysis: Statistical Methods in the Research Literature 123
Statistical Methods and What to Look For: An Overview 123
Independent and Dependent Variables 124
Measurement Scales and Their Data 126
Statistical and Practical Significance 128
Confidence Intervals 131
Which Analytic Method Is Best? 133
The Results 139
Conclusions 140
Using Formal Systems to Evaluate Research 143
Reviewing Qualitative Research: A Special Note 144
Summary of Key Points 151
Exercises 154
Answers 155
Suggested Readings 157
4 Doing the Review: A Reader's Guide Chapter 161
A Reader's Guide 161
Purpose of This Chapter 161
Types of Information: Methods and Content 162
Eligibility and Actuality 165
Reliable and Valid Reviews 172
Measuring Reliability: The Kappa Statistic 172
Uniform Data Collection: The Literature Review Survey Questionnaire 174
Uniform Data Collection: Definitions and More 181
Training Reviewers 182
Pilot Testing the Review Process 184
Establishing Validity 185
Monitoring Quality 186
Collecting Data From the Literature: A Checklist 186
Summary of Key Points 187
Exercises 188
Answers 189
5 What Did You Find? Synthesizing Results 193
A Reader's Guide 193
Purpose of This Chapter 194
Now That You Have Done It, What Do You Do With It? 194
Reviews Describe Current Knowledge 196
Reviews Support the Need for and Significance of New Research 198
Reviews Explain Research Findings 199
Reviews Describe the Quality of Current Research 200
Descriptive Syntheses or Reviews 206
Examples of Descriptive Literature Reviews 206
Meta-Analysis 209
What to Look for in a Meta-Analysis: The Seven Steps 210
Fixed Versus Random Effects 221
Cumulative Meta-Analysis 223
Large Studies Versus Meta-Analysis of Smaller Trials: Comparing Results 224
Supporters and Critics 224
Displaying Meta-Analysis Results 225
Meta-Analyses in Practice: Examples 225
Statistical Interlude 230
Descriptive Review Versus Meta-Analysis 233
Summary of Key Points 234
Exercises 236
Answers 239
Suggested Readings 239
Notes 241
Author Index 242
Subject Index 246
