Nursing Research Q46
What is the best source to use when conducting a level I systematic meta-analysis of the literature?
A. An electronic database
B. Doctoral dissertations
C. The Cochrane Statistical Methods
D. An electronic database and Doctoral dissertations
Correct Answer: C. The Cochrane Statistical Methods
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are situated at the top of what is known as the “Evidence Pyramid”. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are considered to be the highest-quality evidence on a research topic because their study design reduces bias and produces more reliable findings. The Statistical Methods Group (SMG) (Cochrane Methods Statistics) is a forum where all statistical issues related to the work of Cochrane are discussed.
Option A: A systematic review is a high-level overview of primary research on a particular research question that systematically identifies, selects, evaluates, and synthesizes all high-quality research evidence relevant to that question in order to answer it. In other words, it provides an exhaustive summary of the scholarly literature related to a particular research topic or question.
Option B: A systematic review is often written by a panel of experts after reviewing all the information from both published and unpublished studies. The comprehensive nature of a systematic review distinguishes it from traditional literature reviews which typically examine a much smaller set of research evidence and present it from a single author’s perspective.
Option D: Not all systematic reviews include meta-analysis, but all meta-analyses are found in systematic reviews. Simply put, a systematic review refers to the entire process of selecting, evaluating, and synthesizing all available evidence, while the term meta-analysis refers to the statistical approach to combining the data derived from a systematic review.