Synthesizing the Literature
Regardless of type of review conducted, synthesis is necessary in order to derive meaning. It involves summarizing themes, ideas, or results from two or more sources that are relevant to the review question(s). If possible, create evidence tables or other visual information to summarize the literature. Not only does this make it easier to compare, contrast, and generate conclusions, but it also makes it easier for the reader to process.
Determining the strength of the body of evidence is usually an important component of synthesis in many health sciences reviews. Factors to consider include the quantity of studies relevant to the topic, the quality of each study, the consistency of the findings. In terms of whether the evidence is strong enough to alter practice, safety/risk need to be evaluated.
Example Evidence Table
An evidence table can be created easily by including relevant variables and summarizing data. Below is a simple table based on fictitious data.
| Reference | Population, Sample, and Setting | Study Design | Independent Variable | Outcomes and Results | Limitations |
| Taylor, 2012 |
Adults aged 65+ at risk for falls. 50 patients attending a primary care clinic in Midwest |
Quasi Experimental | Education provided by nurse practitioner about fall prevention | Frequency of falls over 6 month period reduced by 20% | High risk of bias due to self report of falls |
| Jensen, 2018 |
adults aged 65 + with history of falls 30 residents in an assisted living facility in the Oregon |
Randomized controlled trial | Yoga sessions 2x/week for 45 mins | frequency of falls reduced by 30% over 3 month period | Small sample size |
Resources for Synthesis
Health Sciences Literature Review Made Easy by
Contents: Introduction -- Basic concepts -- Paper trail : how to plan and manage a search of the literature -- Documents folder : how to select and organize documents for review -- Review matrix folder : how to abstract the research literature -- Synthesis folder : how to use a review matrix to write a synthesis -- A library of master folders -- The matrix indexing system -- Matrix applications by health sciences professionals -- Appendix A Useful resources for literature reviews -- Appendix B Structure of computer folders for the matrix method -- Appendix C Data visualization : a digital exploration.
ISBN: 9781284115253Publication Date: 2016
Conducting Your Literature Review by
Contents: Series foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- What to achieve : clarifying the goal of your literature review -- Where to look : Choosing databases and other sources of literature -- How to look : Developing search strategies -- What to look for: Deciding what literature to include -- How to organize : managing your material -- How to abstract : extracting key information from the literature -- How to assess : critically appraising your material -- How to synthesize : determining what to say about the literature -- How to document : writing up your literature review -- Further reading -- Index -- About the author -- About the series editor.
ISBN: 9781433830921Publication Date: 2019
Synthesising Qualitative and Quantitative Health Evidence by
PART 1 The evidence review process; Chapter 1 Different types of evidence review; Chapter 2 Stages in reviewing evidence systematically; PART 2 Methods for evidence synthesis; Chapter 3 Quantitative approaches to evidence synthesis; Chapter 4 Interpretive approaches to evidence synthesis; Chapter 5 Mixed approaches to evidence synthesis; PART 3 The product of evidence synthesis; Chapter 6 Organising and presenting evidence synthesis1
Contents: Chapter 7 Using evidence reviews for policy- and decision-makingChapter 8 Approaches and assessment: choosing different methods and considering quality; Useful reading; References; Index; Back cover
ISBN: 1281129658Publication Date: 2007
Qualitative Eidence Synthesis by
From SAGE Research Methods, particularly useful for Meta-Syntheses
Publication Date: 2019
