“Doing a Literature Review in Health and Social Care: A practical
guide” by Helen Aveyard
Reading Notes
Chapter 1: Why do a literature review in health and social care?
Summary: “To begin, you are introduced to the importance of literature reviews, the
different types of literature review that exist and what makes a literature review different
from other kinds of research and academic writing”
What is a literature review?
It’s a comprehensive study and interpretation of literature that relates to a particular
topic
You establish a research question and seek to answer it by searching and analysing
relevant literature in a systematic way
A thorough search and analysis of the literature leads you to new insights that are
only possible when all the literature is reviewed together and each piece of relevant
information is seen in the context of other information
What types of literature review are there?
Systematic reviews: a very high quality literature review, generally undertaken by a
team of researchers who aim to identify all the available evidence on a topic,
undertake a thorough appraisal of the quality of the evidence and often include a re-
, analysis of results of the studies – sometimes referred to as a meta-analysis or meta-
synthesis
Good quality literature review: incorporates a systematic approach to literature
searching, appraisal and re-analysis, but might fall short of a full and detailed
systematic approach
o This type of review will still contain a description of how the literature was
searched and how the quality of the literature was evaluated
The literature review as a research method
Literature reviews should usually adhere to the following structure:
o A literature review question (or research question) set in context within an
introductory chapter
o A methods section incorporating your search strategy, method of appraisal
and analysis of the literature
o Presentation of your results/themes incorporating critical appraisal of the
studies included
o Discussion of your results and recommendations for practice
If you come across a review that refers to lots of research but does not demonstrate
a clear process as to how the review was undertaken, then this is not a systematic
review or a good quality literature review and you should regard the results with
caution
Why are literature reviews important?
A literature review makes sense of a body of research and presents an analysis of the
available literature so that the reader does not have to access each individual
research report included in the review
o This is important for health professionals where information is rapidly
changing, so they can maintain knowledge of best practices and up-to-date
care
They lessen the impact of individual pieces of research
o It’s important to see all the studies on a particular topic together in order to
appreciate the whole picture
o It’s easy to be misinformed by one piece of research (e.g. the discredited
study linking MMR vaccines to autism)
o Conversely, combining the results of multiple studies can lead to more
convincing and useful results and advice
Analysis of many papers can lead to new discoveries
o For example, a systematic review by Anderson et al. (2009) explored breast-
feeding in the prevention of allergies in babies and discovered a clearer
understanding of how important it is do breastfeed, establishing new health
advice for new mothers
o Statistical findings from small studies can be combined and reanalysed to
discover new trends (known as meta-analysis)
, The role of Evidence-based practice (EBP)
EBP emerged in the 1970s as health practitioners increasingly questioned their
practice and searched for a scientific rationale for the care they delivered, which
previously might have been given according to tradition and experience
Evidence-based practice involves identifying a practical question to answer and then
seeking and evaluating evidence in order to answer that question
o For example, the questions may be “What is the evidence for removing a
child at risk from his or her own home?” The research evidence that has
focussed on outcomes for children at risk who have been removed from their
homes, or who have remained in their homes, is then reviewed and the
quality of that evidence is assessed. Finally, this evidence should be applied
by those who make decisions about child welfare
An evidence-based practice approach requires that we draw on professional
judgement and consider patient/client preference, in addition to the findings from
research evidence
Systematic Reviews
A systematic review strives to identify comprehensively and track down all the
available literature on a topic, while describing a clear, comprehensive methodology
One of the main features of a systematic review is that reviewers follow a strict
protocol to ensure that the review process undertaken is systematic to answer a
predefined question
The reviewers then develop a comprehensive search strategy, leaving no stone
unturned in the search for relevant literature, and do not regard the process
complete until the search is exhausted
o This search can include unpublished data or articles not accepted for
publication, particularly to overcome the public bias (favouritism for
publishing studies that show benefits of interventions rather than no effect or
negative outcomes)
Reviewers then develop inclusion and exclusion criteria in order to assess which
information they retrieve should be incorporated into the review
Other types of reviews
Good quality (but less detailed) literature reviews: have been undertaken using a
systematic approach, but are not comprehensive or thorough enough to reach the
standard of a full systematic review
Narrative review: a review undertaken with no defined method or systematic
approach
Summary
Literature reviews are an essential tool for those who work in health and social care
to make sense of the range of information that may be published on any given topic
Literature reviews prevent one piece of research being viewed in isolation
guide” by Helen Aveyard
Reading Notes
Chapter 1: Why do a literature review in health and social care?
Summary: “To begin, you are introduced to the importance of literature reviews, the
different types of literature review that exist and what makes a literature review different
from other kinds of research and academic writing”
What is a literature review?
It’s a comprehensive study and interpretation of literature that relates to a particular
topic
You establish a research question and seek to answer it by searching and analysing
relevant literature in a systematic way
A thorough search and analysis of the literature leads you to new insights that are
only possible when all the literature is reviewed together and each piece of relevant
information is seen in the context of other information
What types of literature review are there?
Systematic reviews: a very high quality literature review, generally undertaken by a
team of researchers who aim to identify all the available evidence on a topic,
undertake a thorough appraisal of the quality of the evidence and often include a re-
, analysis of results of the studies – sometimes referred to as a meta-analysis or meta-
synthesis
Good quality literature review: incorporates a systematic approach to literature
searching, appraisal and re-analysis, but might fall short of a full and detailed
systematic approach
o This type of review will still contain a description of how the literature was
searched and how the quality of the literature was evaluated
The literature review as a research method
Literature reviews should usually adhere to the following structure:
o A literature review question (or research question) set in context within an
introductory chapter
o A methods section incorporating your search strategy, method of appraisal
and analysis of the literature
o Presentation of your results/themes incorporating critical appraisal of the
studies included
o Discussion of your results and recommendations for practice
If you come across a review that refers to lots of research but does not demonstrate
a clear process as to how the review was undertaken, then this is not a systematic
review or a good quality literature review and you should regard the results with
caution
Why are literature reviews important?
A literature review makes sense of a body of research and presents an analysis of the
available literature so that the reader does not have to access each individual
research report included in the review
o This is important for health professionals where information is rapidly
changing, so they can maintain knowledge of best practices and up-to-date
care
They lessen the impact of individual pieces of research
o It’s important to see all the studies on a particular topic together in order to
appreciate the whole picture
o It’s easy to be misinformed by one piece of research (e.g. the discredited
study linking MMR vaccines to autism)
o Conversely, combining the results of multiple studies can lead to more
convincing and useful results and advice
Analysis of many papers can lead to new discoveries
o For example, a systematic review by Anderson et al. (2009) explored breast-
feeding in the prevention of allergies in babies and discovered a clearer
understanding of how important it is do breastfeed, establishing new health
advice for new mothers
o Statistical findings from small studies can be combined and reanalysed to
discover new trends (known as meta-analysis)
, The role of Evidence-based practice (EBP)
EBP emerged in the 1970s as health practitioners increasingly questioned their
practice and searched for a scientific rationale for the care they delivered, which
previously might have been given according to tradition and experience
Evidence-based practice involves identifying a practical question to answer and then
seeking and evaluating evidence in order to answer that question
o For example, the questions may be “What is the evidence for removing a
child at risk from his or her own home?” The research evidence that has
focussed on outcomes for children at risk who have been removed from their
homes, or who have remained in their homes, is then reviewed and the
quality of that evidence is assessed. Finally, this evidence should be applied
by those who make decisions about child welfare
An evidence-based practice approach requires that we draw on professional
judgement and consider patient/client preference, in addition to the findings from
research evidence
Systematic Reviews
A systematic review strives to identify comprehensively and track down all the
available literature on a topic, while describing a clear, comprehensive methodology
One of the main features of a systematic review is that reviewers follow a strict
protocol to ensure that the review process undertaken is systematic to answer a
predefined question
The reviewers then develop a comprehensive search strategy, leaving no stone
unturned in the search for relevant literature, and do not regard the process
complete until the search is exhausted
o This search can include unpublished data or articles not accepted for
publication, particularly to overcome the public bias (favouritism for
publishing studies that show benefits of interventions rather than no effect or
negative outcomes)
Reviewers then develop inclusion and exclusion criteria in order to assess which
information they retrieve should be incorporated into the review
Other types of reviews
Good quality (but less detailed) literature reviews: have been undertaken using a
systematic approach, but are not comprehensive or thorough enough to reach the
standard of a full systematic review
Narrative review: a review undertaken with no defined method or systematic
approach
Summary
Literature reviews are an essential tool for those who work in health and social care
to make sense of the range of information that may be published on any given topic
Literature reviews prevent one piece of research being viewed in isolation
