1,721,252 research outputs found
How can we synthesise qualitative and quantitative evidence for policy makers and managers?
No full textObjectives: To describe how different types of evidence - qualitative, quantitative and non-research based - can be integrated/synthesised to inform policy decision making.Study design: Review and critical commentary on methods for synthesis used in health and social science research, undertaken in 2004.Principle findings: We identify four basic approaches to reviewing and synthesising evidence that have potential to inform policy decision making.: narrative (including traditional ‘literature reviews’ and more methodologically explicit approaches such as narrative synthesis, thematic analysis, ‘realist synthesis’ and ‘meta-narrative mapping’), qualitative (which convert all available evidence into qualitative form using techniques such as ‘meta-ethnography’ and ‘qualitative cross-case analysis’), quantitative (which convert all evidence into quantitative form using techniques such as ‘quantitative case survey’ or ‘content analysis’) and Bayesian meta-analysis and decision analysis (which can convert qualitative evidence such as preferences about different outcomes into quantitative form or ‘weights’ to use in quantitative synthesis).Conclusion: There is no single, agreed framework for synthesising diverse forms of evidence. Many of the methods that show potential for this have been devised for reviews which include either qualitative or quantitative evidence rather than those that attempt tointegrate/synthesis both types of evidence. Methods for synthesis are evolving – some are less well developed than others. Nonetheless we must learn to synthesise diverse forms of evidence if we are to better meet the needs of policy makers.Implications: Policy makers have always used a widerange of sources of evidence in making decisions about policy and service organisation but are under pressureto adopt a more systematic approach to the utilisationof this complex evidence base. Synthesis is an attractive solution. The choice of approach is contingent on the policy questions and the nature ofthe evidence. More policy-research dialogue is required to develop synthesis methods.Primary funding: Canadian HSR Foundation & NHS R&DSD
Informing policy making and management in healthcare: The place for synthesis
No full textResearch synthesis has an important role supporting the transfer of knowledge between researchers and healthcare decision-makers. But if our goal is to make knowledge more useable and context specific, then extending the scope of systematic reviews or producing syntheses with policy makers and managers may be insufficient. Dialogues, partnerships and reinterpretations of evidence in context will help us achieve this goal.RésuméLa synthèse de recherche a un important rôle de soutien à jouer dans le transfert des connaissances entre les chercheurs et les décideurs du domaine des soins de santé. Toutefois, si nous voulons rendre les connaissances plus utilisables et plus spécifiques au contexte, l'élargissement de la portée des examens systématiques ou la production de synthèses en collaboration avec les décideurs et les gestionnaires peuvent ne pas suffire. Les dialogues, les partenariats et la réinterprétation des preuves en contexte nous aideront à atteindre ce but
Qualitative methods in health research
No full textQualitative methods have much to offer those studying health care and health services. However, because these methods have traditionally been employed in the social sciences, theymay be unfa-miliar to health care professionals and researchers with a biomedical or natural science background. Indeed, qualitative methods may seem alien alongside the experimental and observational quant-itative methods used in clinical, biological and epidemiological research. Misunderstandings about the nature of qualitative methods and their uses have caused qualitative research to be labelled ‘unscientific’, difficult to replicate or as little more than anecdote, personal impression or conjecture. The first edition of this book, and the series of papers in the British Medical Journal on which the book was initially based, deliberately set out to counter this view. The growing interest in qualitativemethods in health research, and their increasing acceptance in clinical and biomedical arenas, in the 10 years since the book was first published, suggest that such misunderstandings may be diminishing. The purpose of this book has therefore altered subtly. Its main aim continues to be to introduce the main qualitative methods available for the study of health and health care, and to show how qualitative research can be employed appropriately and fruitfully to answer some of the increas-ingly complex questions confronting researchers. In addition, the book considers the ethics of qualitative research and how to assess its quality and looks at the application of qualitative methods within different styles of research and in the emerging area of research synthesis
Improving the quality of general practice services in the UK: Surveying the activities of GPs and practice managers (abstract & commentary).
Full text linkImproving the quality of general practice services has risen in priority as primary care has taken on an increasingly important role in National Health Service policy. In 2015 the Royal College of General Practitioners issued a guide to quality improvement (RCGP, 2015) and a new on-line resource in early 2017 called Quality Now (http://www.rcgp.org.uk/clinical-and-research/our-programmes/quality-improvement.aspx). However, there has been little research on the levers for improvement and a recent King’s Fund report (The King’s Fund, 2011) was unable to establish the nature and quantity of quality improvement work happening in practices. This is the first study of both General Practitioners and practice managers, across the UK, which looks at the range of improvement work going on, what motivates it, who is involved in this work and the barriers and facilitators practices face. It is important to understand these issues in order to focus training and better disseminate good practice and innovation across different countries
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