Conducting systematic reviews in psychology: issues, challenges, and opportunities

This paper discusses the issues and challenges associated with conducting systematic reviews using the existing guidelines (e.g. the Cochrane and Campbell systematic reviews). While these guidelines are appropriate for reviews involving predefined study criteria with fixed procedures and techniques...

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Main Authors:	Mohd Mahudin, Nor Diana, Cox, Tom, Griffiths, Amanda
Format:	Conference or Workshop Item
Language:	English
Published:	2009
Subjects:	BF636 Applied psychology Z665 Library Science. Information Science
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/2124/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/2124/1/Mohd_Mahudin_et_al_2009_Paper_145.pdf

id	iium-2124
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-21242011-09-12T04:38:56Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/2124/ Conducting systematic reviews in psychology: issues, challenges, and opportunities Mohd Mahudin, Nor Diana Cox, Tom Griffiths, Amanda BF636 Applied psychology Z665 Library Science. Information Science This paper discusses the issues and challenges associated with conducting systematic reviews using the existing guidelines (e.g. the Cochrane and Campbell systematic reviews). While these guidelines are appropriate for reviews involving predefined study criteria with fixed procedures and techniques or concerning assessment of effect sizes in established interventions; a more flexible approach is recommended when conducting reviews that deal with evidence from non-randomized, qualitative, or mixed-methods studies. Based from cumulative experience gained from conducting systematic reviews of two ongoing projects, the authors identified seven broad challenges. These challenges were found mostly in 1) defining the research scope and formulating the research question(s); 2) determining the search strategy and adhering to the disciplinary syntax; 3) accessing relevant literature; 4) filtering, appraising, and prioritizing the evidence from different study designs- particularly those related to primary qualitative and mixed-methods studies; 5) combining meta-analysis and narrative synthesis in evidence synthesis; 6) managing time and resources constraints; and 7) enhancing the transparency of decision making process. This paper maintains that while the essence and principles of the existing systematic reviews guidelines should be adhered to, researchers need to adapt them in a more complex nature when dealing with evidence from non-experimental studies or qualitative research. It is suggested that such systematic review process may, among other things, entail development of search protocol using stepwise refinement, integration of both narrative synthesis and meta-analysis for synthesizing the evidence, employment of multi-disciplinary team, and approach to ensure transparency and rigour. 2009 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/2124/1/Mohd_Mahudin_et_al_2009_Paper_145.pdf Mohd Mahudin, Nor Diana and Cox, Tom and Griffiths, Amanda (2009) Conducting systematic reviews in psychology: issues, challenges, and opportunities. In: Southeast Asia Psychology Conference (SEAP) 2009, 9 - 11 July 2009, University Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia.
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	BF636 Applied psychology Z665 Library Science. Information Science
spellingShingle	BF636 Applied psychology Z665 Library Science. Information Science Mohd Mahudin, Nor Diana Cox, Tom Griffiths, Amanda Conducting systematic reviews in psychology: issues, challenges, and opportunities
description	This paper discusses the issues and challenges associated with conducting systematic reviews using the existing guidelines (e.g. the Cochrane and Campbell systematic reviews). While these guidelines are appropriate for reviews involving predefined study criteria with fixed procedures and techniques or concerning assessment of effect sizes in established interventions; a more flexible approach is recommended when conducting reviews that deal with evidence from non-randomized, qualitative, or mixed-methods studies. Based from cumulative experience gained from conducting systematic reviews of two ongoing projects, the authors identified seven broad challenges. These challenges were found mostly in 1) defining the research scope and formulating the research question(s); 2) determining the search strategy and adhering to the disciplinary syntax; 3) accessing relevant literature; 4) filtering, appraising, and prioritizing the evidence from different study designs- particularly those related to primary qualitative and mixed-methods studies; 5) combining meta-analysis and narrative synthesis in evidence synthesis; 6) managing time and resources constraints; and 7) enhancing the transparency of decision making process. This paper maintains that while the essence and principles of the existing systematic reviews guidelines should be adhered to, researchers need to adapt them in a more complex nature when dealing with evidence from non-experimental studies or qualitative research. It is suggested that such systematic review process may, among other things, entail development of search protocol using stepwise refinement, integration of both narrative synthesis and meta-analysis for synthesizing the evidence, employment of multi-disciplinary team, and approach to ensure transparency and rigour.
format	Conference or Workshop Item
author	Mohd Mahudin, Nor Diana Cox, Tom Griffiths, Amanda
author_facet	Mohd Mahudin, Nor Diana Cox, Tom Griffiths, Amanda
author_sort	Mohd Mahudin, Nor Diana
title	Conducting systematic reviews in psychology: issues, challenges, and opportunities
title_short	Conducting systematic reviews in psychology: issues, challenges, and opportunities
title_full	Conducting systematic reviews in psychology: issues, challenges, and opportunities
title_fullStr	Conducting systematic reviews in psychology: issues, challenges, and opportunities
title_full_unstemmed	Conducting systematic reviews in psychology: issues, challenges, and opportunities
title_sort	conducting systematic reviews in psychology: issues, challenges, and opportunities
publishDate	2009
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/2124/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/2124/1/Mohd_Mahudin_et_al_2009_Paper_145.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T20:09:39Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T20:09:39Z
_version_	1777407391452626944

Conducting systematic reviews in psychology: issues, challenges, and opportunities

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