Targeted at the wider social science community and written by two highly respected social scientists, this book outlines the rationale and methods of systematic reviews, giving worked examples from social science and other fields. It requires no previous knowledge, taking the reader through the process stage by stage. Targeted at the wider social science community and written by two highly-respected social scientists, this book outlines the rationale and methods of systematic reviews, giving worked examples from social science and other fields. It requires no previous knowledge, taking the reader through the process stage by stage. Foreword vi William R. Shadish Acknowledgments x Preface xiii Chapter 1 Why do we need systematic reviews? 1(26) Chapter 2 Starting the review: Refining the question and defining the boundaries 27(30) Chapter 3 What sorts of studies do I include in the review? Deciding on the review's inclusion/exclusion criteria 57(22) Chapter 4 How to find the studies: The literature search 79(46) Chapter 5 How to appraise the studies: An introduction to assessing study quality 125(39) Chapter 6 Synthesizing the evidence 164(51) Chapter 7 Exploring heterogeneity and publication bias 215(32) Chapter 8 Disseminating the review 247(18) Chapter 9 Systematic reviews: Urban myths and fairy tales 265(12) Glossary 277(7) Appendix 1 The review process (and some questions to ask before starting a review) 284(4) Appendix 2 MOOSE Guidelines 288(3) Appendix 3 Example of a flow diagram from a systematic review 291(2) Appendix 4 Example data extraction form 293(3) Appendix 5 Variations in the quality of systematic reviews 296(2) Bibliography 298(26) Index 324