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What is the most appropriate knowledge synthesis method to conduct a review? Protocol for a scoping review

BACKGROUND: A knowledge synthesis attempts to summarize all pertinent studies on a specific question, can improve the understanding of inconsistencies in diverse evidence, and can identify gaps in research evidence to define future research agendas. Knowledge synthesis activities in healthcare have...

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Autores principales: Kastner, Monika, Tricco, Andrea C, Soobiah, Charlene, Lillie, Erin, Perrier, Laure, Horsley, Tanya, Welch, Vivian, Cogo, Elise, Antony, Jesmin, Straus, Sharon E
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3477082/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22862833
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-12-114
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author Kastner, Monika
Tricco, Andrea C
Soobiah, Charlene
Lillie, Erin
Perrier, Laure
Horsley, Tanya
Welch, Vivian
Cogo, Elise
Antony, Jesmin
Straus, Sharon E
author_facet Kastner, Monika
Tricco, Andrea C
Soobiah, Charlene
Lillie, Erin
Perrier, Laure
Horsley, Tanya
Welch, Vivian
Cogo, Elise
Antony, Jesmin
Straus, Sharon E
author_sort Kastner, Monika
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: A knowledge synthesis attempts to summarize all pertinent studies on a specific question, can improve the understanding of inconsistencies in diverse evidence, and can identify gaps in research evidence to define future research agendas. Knowledge synthesis activities in healthcare have largely focused on systematic reviews of interventions. However, a wider range of synthesis methods has emerged in the last decade addressing different types of questions (e.g., realist synthesis to explore mediating mechanisms and moderators of interventions). Many different knowledge synthesis methods exist in the literature across multiple disciplines, but locating these, particularly for qualitative research, present challenges. There is a need for a comprehensive manual for synthesis methods (quantitative/qualitative or mixed), outlining how these methods are related, and how to match the most appropriate knowledge synthesis method to answer a research question. The objectives of this scoping review are to: 1) conduct a systematic search of the literature for knowledge synthesis methods across multi-disciplinary fields; 2) compare and contrast the different knowledge synthesis methods; and, 3) map out the specific steps to conducting the knowledge syntheses to inform the development of a knowledge synthesis methods manual/tool. METHODS: We will search relevant electronic databases (e.g., MEDLINE, CINAHL), grey literature, and discipline-based listservs. The scoping review will consider all study designs including qualitative and quantitative methodologies (excluding economic analysis or clinical practice guideline development), and identify knowledge synthesis methods across the disciplines of health, education, sociology, and philosophy. Two reviewers will pilot-test the screening criteria and data abstraction forms, and will independently screen the literature and abstract the data. A three-step synthesis process will be used to map the literature to our objectives. DISCUSSION: This project represents the first attempt to broadly and systematically identify, define and classify knowledge synthesis methods (i.e., less traditional knowledge synthesis methods). We anticipate that our results will lead to an accepted taxonomy for less traditional knowledge synthesis methods, and to the development and implementation of a methods manual for these reviews which will be relevant to a wide range of knowledge users, including researchers, funders, and journal editors.
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spelling pubmed-34770822012-10-20 What is the most appropriate knowledge synthesis method to conduct a review? Protocol for a scoping review Kastner, Monika Tricco, Andrea C Soobiah, Charlene Lillie, Erin Perrier, Laure Horsley, Tanya Welch, Vivian Cogo, Elise Antony, Jesmin Straus, Sharon E BMC Med Res Methodol Study Protocol BACKGROUND: A knowledge synthesis attempts to summarize all pertinent studies on a specific question, can improve the understanding of inconsistencies in diverse evidence, and can identify gaps in research evidence to define future research agendas. Knowledge synthesis activities in healthcare have largely focused on systematic reviews of interventions. However, a wider range of synthesis methods has emerged in the last decade addressing different types of questions (e.g., realist synthesis to explore mediating mechanisms and moderators of interventions). Many different knowledge synthesis methods exist in the literature across multiple disciplines, but locating these, particularly for qualitative research, present challenges. There is a need for a comprehensive manual for synthesis methods (quantitative/qualitative or mixed), outlining how these methods are related, and how to match the most appropriate knowledge synthesis method to answer a research question. The objectives of this scoping review are to: 1) conduct a systematic search of the literature for knowledge synthesis methods across multi-disciplinary fields; 2) compare and contrast the different knowledge synthesis methods; and, 3) map out the specific steps to conducting the knowledge syntheses to inform the development of a knowledge synthesis methods manual/tool. METHODS: We will search relevant electronic databases (e.g., MEDLINE, CINAHL), grey literature, and discipline-based listservs. The scoping review will consider all study designs including qualitative and quantitative methodologies (excluding economic analysis or clinical practice guideline development), and identify knowledge synthesis methods across the disciplines of health, education, sociology, and philosophy. Two reviewers will pilot-test the screening criteria and data abstraction forms, and will independently screen the literature and abstract the data. A three-step synthesis process will be used to map the literature to our objectives. DISCUSSION: This project represents the first attempt to broadly and systematically identify, define and classify knowledge synthesis methods (i.e., less traditional knowledge synthesis methods). We anticipate that our results will lead to an accepted taxonomy for less traditional knowledge synthesis methods, and to the development and implementation of a methods manual for these reviews which will be relevant to a wide range of knowledge users, including researchers, funders, and journal editors. BioMed Central 2012-08-03 /pmc/articles/PMC3477082/ /pubmed/22862833 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-12-114 Text en Copyright ©2012 Kastner et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Study Protocol
Kastner, Monika
Tricco, Andrea C
Soobiah, Charlene
Lillie, Erin
Perrier, Laure
Horsley, Tanya
Welch, Vivian
Cogo, Elise
Antony, Jesmin
Straus, Sharon E
What is the most appropriate knowledge synthesis method to conduct a review? Protocol for a scoping review
title What is the most appropriate knowledge synthesis method to conduct a review? Protocol for a scoping review
title_full What is the most appropriate knowledge synthesis method to conduct a review? Protocol for a scoping review
title_fullStr What is the most appropriate knowledge synthesis method to conduct a review? Protocol for a scoping review
title_full_unstemmed What is the most appropriate knowledge synthesis method to conduct a review? Protocol for a scoping review
title_short What is the most appropriate knowledge synthesis method to conduct a review? Protocol for a scoping review
title_sort what is the most appropriate knowledge synthesis method to conduct a review? protocol for a scoping review
topic Study Protocol
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3477082/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22862833
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-12-114
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