Real-world relevance of multicriteria decision analysis applied to environmental problems: A critical review of operational research literature

The formwork system (FWS) is one of the key components in reinforced concrete (RC) construction. Therefore, selection of the most appropriate FWS plays a critical role in the project success. Because selection of the FWS is affected by several compromising and conflicting criteria, since the early 1990s, numerous studies have been carried out to identify the FWS selection criteria and (or) have employed various multicriterion decision-making (MCDM) methods. However, there is no research to date that has conducted a critical review of the previous studies addressing the FWS selection criteria in construction projects. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap. For this purpose, a critical review of the relevant literature was carried out using an integrative approach, and the findings were validated through face-to-face interviews with professionals specialized in formwork engineering. The findings of this study should provide practitioners with a useful guide that can assist them in selecting the most appropriate FWS.

This article treats critical literature reviews as a distinct review type, and presents a critique of author-labeled critical literature reviews in Organization and Management Studies. We identify and problematize 275 review articles that claim to critically review a body of literature and find that most to not deliver on this claim. Many critical literature reviews do not adequately explain what is meant by “critical” and are highly uncritical in their execution. We reveal the following two significant problems: lack of construct clarity and a prevailing “group, re-present, and summarize” approach. We also identify 19 exemplary critical literature reviews—those that exhibit judgment about the literature they cover. These are drawn from across the onto-epistemological spectrum, so include works from within both the positivist and interpretivist traditions. We propose a “Call for Action” aimed at authors, reviewers, and editors to increase critical literature reviews’ quality and impact. We enhance the long tradition within Management Learning for improving scholarship and focus on a skill all academics are required to learn, exercise, and demonstrate—to conduct high-quality literature reviews.

This paper explains the legal critical literature review in the critical context of the logic of scholarship. The paper asks what makes a critical literature review effective in research. It suggests that critical literature reviews are effective in research when they more easily allow the identification of research gaps, in the specified context. The methodology employs cumulative synthesis from the relevant materials, following Bentham’s ideas on synthesis, that analysis opposes both generalization and synthesis. The paper begins its argument by outlining the nature of a critical literature review. Then, it proceeds with a review of key terms required by the writer. Following this essential background, the paper discusses literature gaps and literature search methodologies. Then it moves on to the ideal format of a critical literature review. Finally, argument deals with the purpose of a critical literature review and techniques for writing the critical literature review. A legal critical literature review will be maximally effective when it sets a correct context for research, identifies fallacies in the scholarship in order to discover research gaps, and then forms this outcome into a central research question. Keywords: legal critical literature review, research gaps, fallacies, research question.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) believes that health education, through office-based counseling, can contribute to childhood injury prevention. This report presents the results of a critical review of the scientific literature on the effectiveness of primary care-based counseling to prevent childhood unintentional injury. A panel selected from the AAP Committee and the AAP Section on Injury and Poison Prevention searched the English-language scientific literature for all articles about childhood unintentional injury prevention counseling. A standardized format was developed to record data on each study. Two members of the panel independently reviewed each article. Articles that were original reports and in which unintentional injury prevention counseling took place in a primary care setting were included. Articles were encoded and analyzed by computer and then grouped by quality of evidence using the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) method of categorizing results of medical care evaluation. Articles were rated by strength of study design in order to compare studies within each USPSTF group. Twenty articles met the criteria for inclusion. Of these, 18 showed positive effects of injury prevention counseling including five randomized/controlled, 10 non-randomized/controlled, two multiple time series, and one descriptive study. In 15 of the positive studies, physicians performed the counseling. Positive outcomes as measured by increased knowledge, improved behavior, or decreased injury occurrence were reported for both motor vehicle and non-motor vehicle injuries. The literature review supports the recommendation of the AAP to include injury prevention counseling as part of routine health supervision. This recommendation has implications for health care reimbursement and care content.

In this critical review of the literature, I interrogate the assumptions underlying STEM workforce studies as it pertains to gender, race, class, and citizenship. First, I provide a brief overview of the pipeline model’s history and critiques. Next, I look at the contemporary use of the model in STEM workforce studies, focusing on the ways in which recruitment and retention, scientific work, and identity are represented, measured, and understood. I argue throughout that the pipeline model has a limited view of retention that is based upon socially constructed ideas about what constitutes “valid” scientific and engineering work and who counts as “real” scientists and engineers.

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Antenatal breast expression: A critical review of the literature

This article provides a critical review of recent literature that has attempted to define what a ‘failed state’ is and explains why such states emerge. It is argued that aggregate indices of ‘failure’ are misleading due to the wide variations of capacity across state functions within a polity. The focus on ranking states also distracts attention away from analyses concerning the dynamics of state capacity. Moreover, many of the definitions either compare reality to a Weberian ideal, or assume that violence is ‘development in reverse’, both of which are ahistorical and unhelpful as a guide to policy. The second part of the article assesses the contributions of functionalist, ‘new war’ and neo-Tillean approaches to explain state failure. The article finds that while these theories take concrete historical situations seriously, they have important theoretical and empirical shortcomings. Finally, the conclusion outlines an agenda for further research.

For women from minority ethnic groups to make informed decisions about their health, and particularly about whether to participate in breast cancer screening programmes, access to a range of appropriately designed high quality, culturally-specific and sensitive health information is needed. Through a critical review of the literature, this paper aims to determine the breast health and breast cancer screening information needs of women from minority ethnic groups and to discuss the implications of cultural difference for nurses in relation to the development and dissemination of health information. A critical review of the research literature published in English between 1996 and 2002 was conducted. Electronic and the relevant Cochrane Collaboration databases were searched using a range of search terms to retrieve literature specifically relevant to the aims of the review. The use of personal contacts and posting a request for information on the mailing list at minority-ethnic-health@jiscmail.ac.uk facilitated the retrieval of grey literature. All references retrieved were entered on a bibliographic database. The title and abstract of each was examined to assess it for inclusion in the review. There was little published information about specific breast cancer screening information needs from the perspective of women from minority ethnic groups. In comparison with the indigenous population, the information needs of people from minority ethnic groups differ in relation to their cultural beliefs and values and the effects of these on health care practices. Inadequate knowledge about breast health and breast cancer screening may be a consequence of the provision of insufficient or culturally inappropriate information. There is a dearth of research highlighting breast health and breast cancer screening information needs of women from minority ethnic groups. In providing information, their needs appear to have been an 'add on'. Health care professionals' lack of understanding about cultural beliefs, values and knowledge, together with racial stereotyping and misconceptions about cancer in minority ethnic groups, pose challenges to information dissemination. Health care professionals need to work collaboratively with women from minority ethnic groups, identifying culturally-specific beliefs and values about breast cancer, breast cancer risk and screening, in order to develop appropriate and acceptable information and dissemination strategies.

The health of persons giving care to the demented elderly: A critical review of the literature

This paper provides a critical review of the empirical literature on the relationship between health insurance, labor supply, and job mobility. We review over 50 papers on this topic, almost exclusively written in the last 10 years. We reach five conclusions. First, there is clear and unambiguous evidence that health insurance is a central determinant of retirement decisions. Second, there is fairly clear evidence that health insurance is not a major determinant of the labor supply and welfare exit decisions of low income mothers. Third, there is fairly compelling evidence that health insurance is an important factor in the labor supply decisions of secondary earners. Fourth, while there is some division in the literature, the most convincing evidence suggests that health insurance plays an important role in job mobility decisions. Finally, there is virtually no evidence in the literature on the welfare implications of these results. We present some rudimentary calculations which suggest that the welfare costs of job lock are likely to be modest. Our general conclusion is that health insurance has important effects on both labor force participation and job choice, but that it is not clear whether or not these effects results in large losses of either welfare or efficiency.

PurposeThis paper aims to develop a framework of executive capability for innovation in the Irish seaport context.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses an approach based on a critical review of literature. The paper takes the form of a critical review of academic literature, focussed by dynamic managerial capabilities theory. Specifically, the work of Lawson and Samson (2001) is drawn on to frame executive capability for innovation.FindingsThe framework proposes that the executive capability for innovation in the Irish seaport sector emerges as a dynamic managerial capability. The framework is dynamic in nature with environmental feedback loops inhibiting and enabling executive capability development. Supply chain innovation emerges from the framework based on an interpretation of executive capability emerging from Lawson and Samson (2001).Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is entirely conceptual in nature. Future empirical research taking a qualitative approach is necessary. Further, an alternative theoretical perspective to that of dynamic managerial capabilities would offer new conceptual insight.Practical implicationsThe paper contributes to executive practice through providing a framework of executive capability for innovation facilitating dialogue between executive practitioners and academic theory. Policymakers are challenged to contemplate the framework as a means of transforming competitiveness in an industry identified as foundational to Irish economic development.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to an emerging area of interest in the academic literature in the area of executive capability for innovation. Specifically, the paper argues the unique contextual nature of executive capability for innovation in the context of the seaport industry.

Part I of this series of articles about stress among emergency medical technicians (EMTs) reviewed the potential sources of EMT stress. This article investigates the other side of the stress equation and provides a critical review of the empirical literature on the effects of stressors on EMTs. It is subdivided into sections corresponding to trends in the research, including: 1) predictors of higher stress levels; 2) differences in stress responses among EMTs, other health professionals, and firefighters; and 3) various physiologic, psychologic, and job performance responses. It identifies some of the methodologic flaws found in the EMT-stress literature that are noted in Part I, and provides further direction for future research. To maintain homogeneity, this review is limited to those articles published in scholarly journals. Studies investigating constructs such as job dissatisfaction and burnout were not included unless the study also included a measure of stress or stressors.

Objective. To determine whether research supports the advisability of early discharge of healthy newborns and mothers. Methods. Critical review of English-language literature cited in the Index Medicus or the International Nursing Index. Findings. No adequately designed studies have examined discharge before 48 hours after delivery without additional postdischarge services. Few studies have examined the consequences of recommending a clinic visit within the first days after discharge; studies of this practice among low-income populations found high no-show rates. Some small studies suggest that early discharge is likely to be safe for selected populations at low psychosocial, socioeconomic, and medical risk, with careful antenatal screening and preparation and multiple postpartum home visits. Some studies suggested adverse outcomes associated with early discharge even with early follow-up. Conclusions. Published research provides little knowledge of the consequences of short maternal/newborn hospital stays or varying postdischarge practices for the general population. The studies that have concluded that early discharge was safe were applied under restricted circumstances or were too small to detect clinically significant effects on important outcomes. Further research is needed to inform clinical and reimbursement policy on health services in the first days of life and parenting. Rigorous studies of sufficient size are needed to examine the impact of different hospital stays and different postdischarge practices on a range of outcomes for mothers and newborns in diverse populations and settings. Given a priori concerns, decisions on neonatal/obstetric discharge planning should be made cautiously.

The aim of this literature review was to identify the palliative care needs of stroke patients. Stroke results in high levels of mortality and morbidity, yet very little is known about the nature and extent of palliative care services that are available to this patient group, and the ways in which such services could be delivered. A critical review of the international literature found only seven papers that attempted to identify the palliative care needs of patients diagnosed with stroke. The results of the review showed that the preferences of stroke patients and their families in relation to palliative care services are largely unknown. The review also indicated the paucity of data in regard to the distinction between provision of palliative care services for patients who die in the acute phase of stroke and for those patients who die later. Establishing reliable assessments of need are central to designing and implementing effective interventions and further research is required in this area. Further data on how the input of palliative care experts and expertise could be of benefit to patients, and the most effective ways these inputs could be targeted and delivered is required. Palliative Medicine 2007; 21: 323—331