[EQ] Why do we care about evidence synthesis? An introduction to the special issue on systematic reviews

Journal of Development Effectiveness

Volume 4, Issue 3, 2012 -Special Issue: Special Issue on Systematic Reviews

Original Articles at: http://bit.ly/SxNcJK

 

Why do we care about evidence synthesis? An introduction to the special issue on systematic reviews

Howard White & Hugh Waddington

“………Systematic reviews are currently in high demand in international development. At least 100 new reviews are ongoing or already completed on a range of topics across the board in international development, many of which were commissioned by policy-making agencies.

These new reviews need to be based on answerable questions, using methods of analysis and reporting which are appropriate for social and economic development programmes and relevant to users.

This introductory paper lays out why we believe systematic reviews should be an important component of evidence-informed development policy and practice. It concludes by introducing the papers collected in this issue, which aim to demonstrate how reviews can be made to live up to the promises generated around them…..”

 

How to do a good systematic review of effects in international development: a tool kit

Hugh Waddington, Howard White, Birte Snilstveit, Jorge Garcia Hombrados, Martina Vojtkova, Philip Davies, Ami Bhavsar, John Eyers, Tracey Perez Koehlmoos, Mark Petticrew, Jeffrey C. Valentine & Peter Tugwell
URL: http://bit.ly/W7Wz7w

“…..We provide a ‘how to’ guide to undertake systematic reviews of effects in international development, by which we mean, synthesis of literature relating to the effectiveness of particular development interventions. Our remit includes determining the review's questions and scope, literature search, critical appraisal, methods of synthesis including meta-analysis, and assessing the extent to which generalisable conclusions can be drawn using a theory-based approach. Our work draws on the experiences of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation's (3ie's) systematic reviews programme…”

Systematic reviews: from ‘bare bones’ reviews to policy relevance

Birte Snilstveit

Narrative approaches to systematic review and synthesis of evidence for international development policy and practice

Birte Snilstveit, Sandy Oliver & Martina Vojtkova

Purity or pragmatism? Reflecting on the use of systematic review methodology in development

Ruth Stewart, Carina van Rooyen & Thea de Wet

The benefits and challenges of using systematic reviews in international development research

Richard Mallett, Jessica Hagen-Zanker, Rachel Slater & Maren Duvendack

Assessing ‘what works’ in international development: meta-analysis for sophisticated dummies

Maren Duvendack, Jorge Garcia Hombrados, Richard Palmer-Jones & Hugh Waddington

The impact of daycare programmes on child health, nutrition and development in developing countries: a systematic review

Jef L. Leroy, Paola Gadsden & Maite Guijarro

 

 

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