EvidenceBank
what is the EvidenceBank?
The EvidenceBank is a database of research reviews, the content of which relates to the Every Child Matters agenda. Any visitor to the site may view a chronological list of reviews in the EvidenceBank, and Partner agencies may access our full report on each research review. This includes a brief description of the review method and a summary that maps the scope and content of the review.
The entry ends with two sections:
- key research message – This aims to extract key messages for practitioners and/or policy makers.
- a note before you go … This draws the reader's attention to significant strengths or weaknesses of the review.
EvidenceBank is designed to help you critically assess the value of a review. However, you are strongly advised to view the full text of any review you intend to use as evidence in a policy or practice context.
what is a research review?
Reviews of research take a number of forms. They may provide a descriptive overview of the research literature in a particular field or an analysis of a closely defined body of research. The main types of research review you are likely to come across are:
author-selected reviews – The author selects a range of research literature to review on a particular topic. There are no standardized criteria for identifying which materials are included.
Consequently this can be seen as somewhat ‘journalistic’ approach, leaving authors open to criticism for focusing only on findings that support their own theoretical position - bias. The process of peer review - in which acknowledged experts in the field read and comment upon academic work before it is accepted for publication is the means by which professionals in any field safeguard against this kind of bias.
Generally speaking, the more transparent the author is about the search method and selection criteria employed, the more reliable the review. Such transparency makes it easier to evaluate how comprehensive a review it is, and what its limitations may be.
systematic reviews – a concise summary of the best available evidence. Systematic reviews follow rigorous and explicit scientific design in order to be as comprehensive as possible, to minimize the chance of bias and thereby ensure the reliability of the data presented.
A systematic review will be explicit in stating the question to be addressed, and in explaining the methods of data collection, the criteria for data selection and the methods of appraisal.
meta-analyses – a statistical technique for combining or synthesizing the findings from several studies into a single estimate. The validity of a meta-analysis depends on the quality of the systematic review on which it is based.
scoping reviews – a method used to find out how much and what kinds of literature exist in a topic area. Scoping is a way to identify gaps in the literature and thereby assess the need for a systematic review, or provide evidence to support a recommendation for future research.
knowledge reviews – a type of publication developed by SCIE. These are reviews of both practice knowledge and research knowledge in social care.
why is it important to read reviews of research?
A research review provides a good starting point for understanding the main issues and debates in a particular subject area. Research reviews contribute to ongoing debates by distilling, analysing and evaluating the research findings on a specific topic. In a well written review the author will make evident a clear research question, the methods of data collection, and criteria for inclusion and appraisal.
what does the EvidenceBank report contain?
The reports in the EvidenceBank aim to provide you with a summary overview of the content of a research review. The report will only tell you what is present in the review not what is absent (we do not have the specialised knowledge that would be necessary to flag up when a review has omitted to discuss an important piece of research). This summary is intended as a guide to the content so that you can then decide for yourself whether you wish to acquire a copy of the review and read in more detail. Where we can we will point out significant strengths or weaknesses of a research review in the section 'a word before you go'. Once again, this is not an exhaustive critique but rather a pointer to what to look out for when reading and critically evaluating a research review.
For the years 2003-2004, there are a number of entries on EvidenceBank that provide only the title and reference details for research reviews. Partner of research in practice can request a summary/evaluation of any of these reviews by emailing susannah@rip.org.uk
how does research in practice decide which reviews to include in its EvidenceBank?
There is an enormous number of research reviews published every year with content relating to the Every Child Matters agenda and we do not have the capacity as an organisation to include all of these in the EvidenceBank.
Our methods for deciding which reviews to include are as follows:
- Every quarter we receive a list of research reviews published in the previous three months through the NCB ChildData literature search service. The NCB Library and Information Service has a comprehensive collection of books, journals and grey literature on all aspects of children and young people's social welfare, health and education. It is the largest collection of resources about children and young people’s issues in the UK. (new window)(Your organisation needs to be a member of NCB to access the library and information service).
- We perform a quarterly search of the SocialCareOnline library for research reviews under all the relevant sub-headings within their ‘children, families and young people’ topic heading.
- In addition, the research officer at research in practice subscribes to the Zetoc Alert service provided by the British Library, which delivers email notification of the contents page of journals selected from a list of around 20,000 current titles.
- From these sources the research officer and knowledge officer at research in practice identify key reviews for inclusion in the EvidenceBank.
There are certain research reviews that we do not include in the EvidenceBank simply because they are presented in such a concise and readable format that it would be redundant to summarise them still further:
- NCB Highlights: (new window) . Highlights are free to NCB members and are either comprehensive research summaries on particular topics or expert guides to important reports and legislation. NCB publish around eight Highlights a year and there are over 200 titles available.
- SCIE Research Briefings: ( new window) these are summaries of information on a particular topic designed to update practice at the health and social care interface. They summarise the knowledge base in a particular area to act as a signpost to more in-depth material
how do you find what you want in the EvidenceBank?
- Browse full list of research reviews in the EvidenceBank as a chronological list
- Search by topic from a list of twenty-one topic headings
- Search by key word or phrase
The results will be displayed in outline form (title, author, publisher, date, method and brief description)
Where a full report is available, a link is provided to the full report.
how do you obtain the full text of a research review?
- Where a research review is available on the Internet we include a link at the end of the EvidenceBank report
- Your organisation may subscribe to some of the journals in which research reviews are published. If you have a dedicated research officer ask them to provide you with a list of resources available to you. If you do not have a research officer we suggest you ask your research in practice Link Officer about the research resources available in your agency
- Social work students on placement and some practitioners doing PQ may have access to university library resources
- Individual journals titles can be accessed through their publisher’s home pages on the internet by ‘googling’ the title of the journal. You can purchase immediate electronic access to an article through these sites. This is expensive as a single article will cost around £10. Most journals provide one issue on the website as a ‘free sample issue’ and you can download content from that one issue immediately
what if you cannot find what you want in the EvidenceBank?
If cannot find a research review that addresses your area of interest in the EvidenceBank, please email the research officer at research in practice: susannah@rip.org.uk who will search for a relevant research review for you. This service is available to Partners in the research in practice network. Please state the agency to which you belong in your email when requesting this service.
are there other sections of this website that can provide related information?
Try searching the whole research in practice website using the ‘site search’ facility. This will produce a list of all relevant links on the research in practice website
If you wish to narrow your search you can focus on a particular section of the website. The most useful sections for finding information about research evidence include:
- our publications - the full text of all research in practice publications is available free of charge through the website
- the register of researchers – contains details of leading childcare researchers, together with a list of their area of interest, research methods, current research projects and key publications
- research and policy updates – monthly publication available on the website which signposts and reviews newly published research articles and summaries, newly commissioned research, and new books
- if you wish to broaden your search beyond the research in practice website the research links section provides selected links to some key databases, gateways, journals, research organisations and online libraries
guidance on finding and evaluating research can be found in the research resources section of the websit
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