Chapter 14 – Evaluating Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: Towards Evidence-Based Practice

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses have become increasingly popular in social and behavioral sciences. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses synthesize information from multiple empirical studies on a specific topic and build an evidence base to inform policy and practice. This chapter explains the main elements of the process for conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses through evaluation questions and examples: from a clear formulation of the research question to the systematic search criteria and data extraction, to how heterogeneity and biases among the selected studies are handled by researchers, to assessing the clarity of explanations and descriptions of study limitations provided by the authors. Special attention is paid to the usefulness of systematic reviews and meta-analyses and their implications for policy and practice. End-of-chapter exercises reinforce the knowledge and skills developed through the chapter material.