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223 Pages·2012·0.606 MB·English
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Systematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research POCKET GUIDES TO SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH METHODS Series Editor Tony Tripodi, DSW Professor Emeritus, Ohio State University Determining Sample Size Strategies to Approximate Random Balancing Power, Precision, and Practicality Sampling and Assignment Patrick Dattalo Patrick Dattalo Preparing Research Articles Analyzing Single System Design Data Bruce A. Thyer William R. Nugent Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Survival Analysis Julia H. Littell, Jacqueline Corcoran, Shenyang Guo and Vijayan Pillai The Dissertation Historical Research From Beginning to End Elizabeth Ann Danto Peter Lyons and Howard J. Doueck Confi rmatory Factor Analysis Cross-Cultural Research Donna Harrington Jorge Delva, Paula Allen-Meares, and Sandra L. Momper Randomized Controlled Trials Secondary Data Analysis Design and Implementation for Thomas P. Vartanian Community-Based Psychosocial Interventions Narrative Inquiry Phyllis Solomon, Mary M. Cavanaugh, Kathleen Wells and Jeffrey Draine Structural Equation Modeling Needs Assessment Natasha K. Bowen and Shenyang Guo David Royse, Michele Staton-Tindall, Finding and Evaluating Evidence Karen Badger, and J. Matthew Webster Systematic Reviews and Multiple Regression with Discrete Evidence-Based Practice Dependent Variables Denise E. Bronson and Tamara S. Davis John G. Orme and Terri Combs-Orme Policy Creation and Evaluation Developing Cross-Cultural Measurement Understanding Welfare Reform Thanh V. Tran in the United States Richard Hoefer Intervention Research Grounded Theory Developing Social Programs Julianne S. Oktay Mark W. Fraser, Jack M. Richman, Maeda J. Galinsky, and Steven H. Day Quasi-Experimental Research Designs Developing and Validating Rapid Bruce A. Thyer Assessment Instruments Neil Abell, David W. Springer, Systematic Synthesis of and Akihito Kamata Qualitative Research Michael Saini and Aron Shlonsky Clinical Data-Mining Integrating Practice and Research Irwin Epstein MICHAEL SAINI ARON SHLONSKY Systematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research 1 1 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2012 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries © 2012 Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, Inc., or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, Inc., at the address above You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer ____________________________________________ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Saini, Michael. Systematic synthesis of qualitative research / Michael Saini, Aron Shlonsky. p. cm. — (Pocket guides to social work research methods) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-538721-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Social service—Research— Methodology. 2. Qualitative research—Methodology. I. Shlonsky, Aron. II. Title. HV11.S266 2012 001.4’2—dc23 2011036240 ____________________________________________ 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Typeset in Minion Printed on acid-free paper Printed in the United States of America Contents Preface vii Acknowledgments xiii Part I. The Integration of Qualitative Research within Evidence Based Practice 1 Evolution of Qualitative Synthesis within Systematic Reviews 5 2 Methods for Aggregating, Integrating, and Interpreting Qualitative Research 23 3 Overview of Mixed-Method Systematic Review Designs 50 4 Clarifying Methodological Issues: A Way Forward 64 Part II. A Systematic Approach for Qualitative Synthesis 5 Systematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research 73 6 Searching and Screening Qualitative Studies 90 7 Appraising the Evidence of Qualitative Studies 112 Part III. Qualitative Synthesis as Evidence for Social Work Practice and Policy 8 Reporting Systematic Qualitative Synthesis 143 9 Future Directions for Social Work Practice and Policy 157 vi Contents Appendix A. Systematic Information Retrieval Coding Sheet 167 Appendix B. Qualitative Research Quality Checklist 169 Glossary 175 References 182 Index 204 Preface “ What works in child welfare” (Kluger, Alexander, & Curtis, 2000). “What works for troubled children,” (Buchanan & Ritchie, 2004). “What works for parents with learning disabilities” (McGaw, 2000). These titles refl ect an interest in what is effective in social work policy and practice and are part of a growing body of literature aimed at improving out- comes for clients receiving services from social workers and others in the helping professions and understanding the systems that impede or facili- tate the delivery of these services. N otwithstanding this expressed interest in harnessing evidence for effective social work practice and policy and a simultaneous, parallel growth of quantitative and qualitative evidence relevant to social work, there remains a lack of attention paid to building a cumulative body of evidence to inform social work practice and policy. This means that it is diffi cult to identify gaps in knowledge so that new research questions can be asked that are relevant to the experiences of populations served by social work. For clinicians, the challenge of including the best available evidence within practice decisions with clients is overwhelming given the ever-increasing volume of studies on specifi c areas of social work practice. Social workers often have little time and insuffi cient resources to ade- quately make sense of the best available evidence needed to guide practice. Literature reviews can only go so far and are notoriously biased. Without systematic summaries of individual studies, the task of making sense of the evidence, both within and across studies, is a daunting endeavor. viii Preface Systematic reviews are designed to deal with this very problem and are an integral part of evidence-based practice. They can be thought of as an overarching approach for the review of evidence and are generally understood to include a set of preformulated questions, comprehensive methods for searching and locating primary studies, a transparent method for appraising quality, and explicit procedures for synthesizing included studies. Although not typically included in the discourse of sys- tematic reviews and evidence-based practice, knowledge gained from qualitative research can not only describe elements of interventions that “work,” but can also be helpful in answering questions about why inter- ventions work (or do not work) and the infl uence these interventions may have (or do not have) on clients that the interventions are meant to target. As important as “Did it work?” type of questions, qualitative stud- ies might ask: How do people experience the intervention? Why might an intervention work, for whom, and in what circumstances? What aspects of the intervention are valued and why is this so? What system level fac- tors contribute to the successful implementation of an intervention? What conditions create potential barriers for recruitment and participa- tion in an intervention? Within the context of evidence-based practice, qualitative research can also be the primary source of data to answer questions that do not focus solely on social services’ effi cacy or effective- ness (Gough & Elbourne, 2002) but, instead, focus on the richly described perceptions of clients and the contextual considerations that infl uence the delivery of services including: the perceived needs of clients; clients’ experiences of services; the presence of program champions or leaders; the operation and resources for services; the cultural appropriateness, relevance, and sensitivity of services; aspects related to training; and the presence or absence of collaboration among partners in supporting the services. Arguments are often made about the contingent nature of evidence gleaned from synthesis of qualitative studies and the current lack of con- sensus about the veracity of some of its aspects. And yet, despite these hesitations, qualitative synthesis can be included within the family of sys- tematic reviews as a unique method for answering research questions, as well a method that compliments and enhances other systematic review methods. Systematic synthesis is an important technique and, used suit- ably, can deepen our understanding of the contextual dimensions of social work practice, and can help to move qualitative synthesis out of Preface ix the shadow of quantitative synthesis (i.e., meta-analysis). Moreover, qualitative synthesis provides impetus to the creation of methods that are transparent, consistent, and rigorous, regardless of the systematic review method, and helps to distinguish qualitative synthesis from other types of reviews of the literature. PURPOSE OF THE BOOK This book aims to provide graduate students, social work researchers, and practitioners with current standards, philosophical debates, and methods for understanding and conducting systematic qualitative syn- thesis. An overview of the range of qualitative synthesis methods avail- able is provided so that readers may choose a method that is most consistent with the important questions they are asking, which will, ulti- mately, better inform practice and policy decisions relevant to social work. In doing so, we also introduce and explain the terminology found within this emerging fi eld of research to provide a clear roadmap for those inclined to pursue this challenging, yet rewarding method of inquiry. L ike others who have considered these issues (Dixon-Woods, Bonas, Booth, et al., 2006; Paterson, Thorne, Canam, & Jillings, 2001; Pope, Mays, & Popay, 2007; Sandelowski & Barroso, 2007), we are not naïve to the challenges involved in articulating systematic methods for synthesiz- ing qualitative studies. We acknowledge the risk that presenting an approach for qualitative synthesis poses. We may overemphasize meth- ods over substance and readers might perceive that we are prescribing a single method. Moreover, the philosophical differences between, say, a post-positivist grounded theory study and a critical–realist ethno- graphic study cannot be ignored. Both are qualitative studies, yet how can they be compared? Indeed, this is what makes a quantitative system- atic review much easier because there is just one philosophical tradition to contend with: post-positivism. Quantitative meta-reviews compare fi ndings generated by different designs and statistical techniques, but, for the most part, each study enacts the same basic post-positivist assump- tions (e.g., that differences between people can be observed, aggregated, interpreted, and generalized).

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