Every year a vast number of research studies and a myriad of other forms of 'evidence' are produced that have potential to inform policy and practice. Synthesis provides a way of bringing together diverse kinds of evidence to bridge the so called 'gap' between evidence and policy.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the range of approaches and methods available for synthesising qualitative and quantitative evidence and a detailed explanation of why this is important. It does this by:

• Looking at the different types of review and examining the place of synthesis in reviews for policy and management decision making
• Describing the process of conducting and interpreting syntheses
• Suggesting questions which can be used to assess the quality of a synthesis

Nick Mays is Professor of Health Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

About the authors

Preface

Acknowledgements

PART 1 The evidence review process

Different types of evidence review

Stages in reviewing evidence systematically

PART 2 Methods for evidence synthesis

Quantitative approaches to evidence synthesis

Interpretive approaches to evidence synthesis

Mixed approaches to evidence synthesis

PART 3 The product of evidence synthesis

Organising and presenting evidence synthesis

Using evidence reviews for policy and decision-making

Approaches and assessment: choosing different methods andconsidering quality

Useful reading

References

Index