Knowledge Synthesis: Systematic & Scoping Reviews

Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences

Systematic literature reviews are becoming part of the research landscape as policymakers increasingly turn to an evidence base for decision making (Petticrew & Roberts, 2006).

Systematic reviews in the area of Social Sciences, Humanities and Law are similar to those carried out in the area of Health and Life Sciences in that they are a valuable means of reviewing all the available evidence on whether a particular intervention is effective.

Differences between systematic reviews in Health and Social Sciences

Adapted from: Bath University Systematic Reviews. Available at: https://library.bath.ac.uk/systematic-reviews. (Accessed: 28 May 2020)

Health	Social Sciences
Months or years to produces	Weeks or months to produce
Answers a well defined and focused question	Answers a well defined and focused question
Includes a written protocol (a reasoned plan for the entire review process)	Involves a detailed search strategy
Searches for all published and unpublished literature on a topic	Searches for published literature on a topic
Systematically assesses the quality and potential bias of all available evidence	Critically summarises the literature
Records and writes up details of all databases searched, search terms used and numbers of results	Records details of databases searched, search terms used and numbers of results
Synthesises all findings and meta-analysis all data
Makes recommendations for professional practice
Involves 3 or more people to eliminate bias	Usually involves 1 person so open to bias

Resources

Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences: a practical guide by Mark Petticrew; Helen Roberts
ISBN: 9780470754887
Publication Date: 2008-01-11
Such diverse thinkers as Lao-Tze, Confucius, and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have all pointed out that we need to be able to tell the difference between real and assumed knowledge. The systematic review is a scientific tool that can help with this difficult task. It can help, for example, with appraising, summarising, and communicating the results and implications of otherwise unmanageable quantities of data. This book, written by two highly-respected social scientists, provides an overview of systematic literature review methods: Outlining the rationale and methods of systematic reviews; Giving worked examples from social science and other fields; Applying the practice to all social science disciplines; It requires no previous knowledge, but takes the reader through the process stage by stage; Drawing on examples from such diverse fields as psychology, criminology, education, transport, social welfare, public health, and housing and urban policy, among others. Including detailed sections on assessing the quality of both quantitative, and qualitative research; searching for evidence in the social sciences; meta-analytic and other methods of evidence synthesis; publication bias; heterogeneity; and approaches to dissemination.

Examples

If you've never participated in a systematic review, reading reviews from your discipline can be helpful. Here are a few examples from various Social Science disciplines.

Adams, Jeanrenaud, S., Bessant, J., Denyer, D., & Overy, P. (2016). Sustainability-oriented Innovation: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Management Reviews : IJMR, 18(2), 180–205.

Barth, & de Jong, M. D. . (2017). The privacy paradox – Investigating discrepancies between expressed privacy concerns and actual online behavior – A systematic literature review. Telematics and Informatics, 34(7), 1038–1058.

Castano, Fontanil, Y., & Garcia-Izquierdo, A. L. (2019). “Why Can’t I Become a Manager?”A Systematic Review of Gender Stereotypes and Organizational Discrimination. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(10), 1813–.

Dear, Dutton, K., & Fox, E. (2019). Do “watching eyes” influence antisocial behavior? A systematic review & meta-analysis. Evolution and Human Behavior, 40(3), 269–280.

Eira Nunes, Roten, Y., El Ghaziri, N., Favez, N., & Darwiche, J. (2021). Co‐Parenting Programs: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis. Family Relations, 70(3), 759–776.

Meijer, Röhl, J., Bloomfield, K., & Grittner, U. (2012). Do neighborhoods affect individual mortality? A systematic review and meta-analysis of multilevel studies. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 74(8), 1204–1212.

Minasyan, Zenker, J., Klasen, S., & Vollmer, S. (2019). Educational gender gaps and economic growth: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis. World Development, 122, 199–217.

Nabi, Linan, F., Fayolle, A., Krueger, N., & Walmsley, A. (2017). The Impact of Entrepreneurship Education in Higher Education: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 16(2), 277–299.

Nef, Ganea, R. L., Müri, R. M., & Mosimann, U. P. (2013). Social networking sites and older users – a systematic review. International Psychogeriatrics, 25(7), 1041–1053.

Chapman, Karen (2021). Characteristics of systematic reviews in the social sciences. Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol.47 (5), p.102396

Presentation for Social Sciences Knowledge Synthesis