Interesting article demonstrating the use of a conceptual framework to help drive research synthesis.
Gardner B, Whittington C, McAteer J, Eccles MP, Michie S. Using theory to synthesise evidence from behaviour change interventions: the example of audit and feedback. Soc Sci Med. 2010 May;70(10):1618-25.
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This article provides a great deal of information about how utilizing theory shapes and restricts the evidence one can work with. This analysis, which utilizes theory to perform a systematic review of a number of studies, discusses how utilizing theory in such reviews can make conclusions stronger. However, the researchers also struggled with the fact that the theory they chose involved so many intricacies that a large proportion of the studies they started with had to be excluded. Reading through this paper, one is struck both by the power theory-based research has to address key concerns and also how extremely challenging it is to conduct theory-based research. It seems to me that if utilizing theory resulted in a "paucity of available evidence," perhaps rigorous theory-based research is not the best way to approach systematic reviews. At a minimum, a theory with less constraints might be more effective. The authors suggest that using theories to shape such reviews will produce more powerful and reliable findings. However, it seems like there must be a trade-off between how rigorous the constraints are and how much material one can actually utilize.
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