Summary

Such diverse thinkers as Lao-Tze, Confucius, and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have all pointed out that we need to be able to tell the difference between real and assumed knowledge. The systematic review is a scientific tool that can help with this difficult task. It can help, for example, with appraising, summarising, and communicating the results and implications of otherwise unmanageable quantities of data.

This book, written by two highly-respected social scientists, provides an overview of systematic literature review methods:

Choice Review

Petticrew (Univ. of Glasgow) and Roberts (City University, London) present a handbook that offers an integrative justification for systematic literature reviews (studies that summarize scientifically all of the research on a specific topic, issue, or question) in the social sciences. It focuses on studies that bring to readers evidence of effectiveness for interventions in crime, education, social welfare, transportation, and health. The research approach here is based on triangulation (analyzing data that originates from multiple collection procedures) and on minimizing bias. Although the book is international in scope, it emphasizes UK sources and examples. The authors make the case that one should never rely on the results of one study. By providing extensive content on meta-analysis, they demystify this much-feared subset of literature reviews. Full of wit and texture, this volume is a joy to read. Brief sections with enticing titles draw readers into what might be dry material. Boxes that provide definitions, stories, examples, and highlights dot every chapter. Each chapter ends with a summary of key points and an extensive bibliography. Several worthwhile appendixes, most notably a checklist of the steps in the review process, enhance the text. A concise but useful glossary is included. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students and researchers/faculty in the social sciences. A. C. Moore University of Massachusetts at Amherst