Review Of Quantitative Research Research Articles

Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Qualitative Evidence Syntheses, Differences From Reviews of Intervention Effectiveness and Implications for Guidance

Systematic reviews of qualitative research (‘qualitative evidence syntheses’) are increasingly popular and represent a potentially important source of information about people’s views, needs and experiences. Since 2013, Cochrane has published qualitative evidence syntheses, and the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care group has been involved in the majority of these reviews. But more guidance is needed on how to prepare these reviews in an environment that is more familiar with reviews of quantitative research. In this paper, we describe and reflect on how Cochrane qualitative evidence syntheses differ from reviews of intervention effectiveness and how these differences have influenced the guidance developed by the EPOC group. In particular, we discuss how it has been important to display to end users, firstly, that qualitative evidence syntheses are carried out with rigour and transparency, and secondly, that these quality standards need to reflect qualitative research traditions. We also discuss lessons that reviews of effectiveness might learn from qualitative research.

Effectiveness of Restorative Justice in US K-12 Schools: a Review of Quantitative Research

This article provides an overview of restorative justice (RJ) in US K-12 schools, discusses implementation challenges, and summarizes the most recent two decades of quantitative studies regarding the effectiveness of RJ at achieving a range of outcomes. While RJ has become increasingly popular, there is still relatively little quantitative research regarding its effectiveness. Still, available evidence suggests that RJ programs can improve school climates and reduce student misbehavior and school discipline. Results are more mixed regarding RJ’s impact on bullying, student absenteeism, and academic performance.

The Effects of Dogs on Learning: A Meta-Analysis

ABSTRACTIntegrating dogs into learning environments is becoming more prevalent as growing evidence demonstrates positive benefits of dogs on human functioning. To date, there is no known quantitative review of research that specifically investigates the impacts of dogs within school/classroom environments. We sought to fill this gap with a meta-analysis that includes a comprehensive search investigating the effects of dogs on learning with ele- mentary, middle, and high school students. Specific outcomes investigated were reading, social skills, and emotional/behavioral skills. In addition, we also sought to understand how characteristics of students and dogs and method- ological features facilitate the effects of animal-assisted learning on learning outcomes. After an extensive search for studies meeting specified inclusion criteria, data from 20 studies were extracted yielding 66 independent effect sizes. In general, results showed that the inclusion of dogs within learning environments produces positive learning outcomes for students. We conclude with limitations and implications of the review.

Born Globals in Poland: Development Factors and Research Overview

Objective: This paper investigates the concept of the born global, indicates the main attributes and sources of success for enterprises that internationalised early, and demonstrates the scale of the born global phenomenon in Poland. Research Design & Methods: A review of empirical studies is the research method used in the paper. Secondary data from research studies is collected. The article outlines the theoretical background of born globals. A brief overview of the existing research (since 2004) is also provided. The results are compiled to demonstrate the scale of the born global phenomenon in Poland. Findings: A review of quantitative research indicates that the percentage of born globals in Poland can be estimated at 30–50% of all SMEs which are engaged in international activities. Polish managers have the necessary knowledge and traits for early internationalisation; the primary factors limiting the development of born global are limited financial and organisational resources. Implications/Recommendations: The existing quantitative analyses of born globals do not sufficiently enable the factors that constitute the main barriers to the development of this sector in Poland to be identified. There is still a room to plan the appropriate support policies for SMEs on international markets. Contribution: This paper addresses mainstream research on born globals, which are part of broader trends in the modern economy. This new generation of small and medium-sized enterprises, just as economic globalisation, the opening of markets and acceleration in the field of ICT development, is particularly relevant to both developing countries and middle-income economies such as Poland.

The Methodological Underdog: A Review of Quantitative Research in the Key Adult Education Journals

An examination of articles published in leading adult education journals demonstrates that qualitative research dominates. To better understand this situation, a review of journal articles reporting on quantitative research has been undertaken by the author of this article. Differences in methodological strengths and weaknesses between quantitative and qualitative research are discussed, followed by a data mining exercise on 1,089 journal articles published in Adult Education Quarterly, Studies in Continuing Education, and International Journal of Lifelong Learning. A categorization of quantitative adult education research is presented, as well as a critical discussion on why quantitative adult education does not seem to be widespread in the key adult education journals.

How is Safety Climate Formed? A Meta-Analysis of the Determinants of Safety Climate

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to provide a comprehensive quantitative review of research to date on the antecedents of psychological and organizational safety climate. Building upon and exp...

Physical Activity and Quality of Life in Cancer Survivors: A Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Research.

Qualitative research on the impact of physical activity on quality of life (QoL) in adults diagnosed with cancer is accumulating. However, the field of physical activity and cancer survivorship lack a synthesis of this research to reliably understand the implications for future research and practice. The aim of this meta-synthesis was to identify, appraise, and synthesize qualitative research on cancer survivors’ perspectives of the impact of physical activity on their QoL. Seven electronic databases were searched for original studies published in English, and reference lists of relevant studies were hand-searched to identify additional studies. Forty studies met eligibility criteria and were included in this meta-synthesis. Study characteristics and major findings were extracted, and findings were summarized, compared, and synthesized. Themes identified in this review revealed that physical activity positively impacted four dimensions of cancer survivors’ QoL: physical (e.g., managing the physical consequences of cancer and its treatment), psychological (e.g., evoking positive self-perceptions), social (e.g., feeling understood by others), and spiritual (e.g., redefining life purpose). This meta-synthesis corroborates conclusions from reviews of quantitative research and illustrates that physical activity can be used to improve QoL in adult cancer survivors, regardless of diagnosis (i.e., stage, cancer type) and treatment status. It also provides detailed insight into specific aspects within each dimension of QoL impacted by physical activity from cancer survivors’ perspectives, which is important for understanding the meaning and utility of physical activity for them. However, more research is needed to further develop the qualitative evidence base in order to better understand how physical activity impacts on QoL experiences in men, young adults, and adults diagnosed with less common types of cancer at different points along cancer trajectory (i.e., diagnosis, treatment, post-treatment, palliation).

A Quantitative Review of Research on Performance Effects of Management Innovation

The role of technological innovations (TI) in influencing firm performance is established in the innovation literature. However, theoretical discourse on the motivation for the introduction of new management tools, techniques, and practices has shed doubt on the contribution of nontechnological, management innovations. This study focuses on the performance outcomes of management innovations (MI) and examines three questions: (1) is the introduction of MI beneficial to organizational performance; (2) what are the potential moderators (or sources of inconsistencies) in the MI-performance relationship; and (3) is the impact of MI on performance at par with that of TI? We integrate the findings of research on the effects of MI on performance by two quantitative procedures – support score and meta-analysis – using 52 independent samples from 44 articles published in peer-reviewed journals from 1993 to 2011. The analyses from both procedures indicate that: (1) MI positively affects firm performance; (2) industrial sector and construct measurements moderate the MI-performance relationship; and (3) the direction and strength of the effect of MI on performance does not differ from that of TI. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research on performance consequences of innovation in organizations.

Why males have higher suicide rate in most countries? A review of quantitative research

1National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, 2Japan Centre for Evidence Based Practice, Osaka University, Osaka, 3Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

A Systematic and Quantitative Review of Interventions to Facilitate School Reentry for Children With Chronic Health Conditions

To conduct as systematic and quantitative review of research on the effects of school reentry interventions for children with chronic health conditions. This analysis examined 2 primary outcomes: increasing illness- or injury-specific knowledge among teachers or healthy peers and enhancing positive attitudinal change toward an ill or injured child. A secondary analysis examined any change in the ill or injured child's global self-worth following the intervention. A random-effects model was used in all analyses, and effect sizes were analyzed using heterogeneity tests. Larger effect sizes were found for increases in knowledge than for enhancing positive attitudinal changes (i.e., mean ES for knowledge: 0.84-0.88; mean ES for positive attitudinal change: 0.68), and larger effect sizes were found for teachers than for healthy peers in both analyses. Significant heterogeneity was found between groups (i.e., teachers vs. healthy peers) and within groups in both analyses. Results of the secondary analysis indicated a medium effect for improvements in global self-worth (i.e., mean ES = 0.24). This analysis provides support for the effectiveness of school reentry interventions and highlights the critical need for more empirical work in this area.

Generational Differences in Work-Related Attitudes: A Meta-analysis

Differences among generations on a wide variety of outcomes are of increasing interest to organizations, practitioners, and researchers alike. The goal of this study was to quantitatively assess the research on generational differences in work-related attitudes and to provide guidance for future research and practice. We conducted a meta-analysis of generational differences on three work-related criteria: job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to turnover. Our review of published and unpublished research found 20 studies allowing for 18 generational pairwise comparisons across four generations (Traditionals, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, and Millennials) on these outcomes using 19,961 total subjects. Corrected mean differences for job satisfaction ranged from .02 to .25, for organizational commitment they ranged from −.22 to .46, and for intent to turnover the range was −.62 to .05. The pattern of results indicates that the relationships between generational membership and work-related outcomes are moderate to small, essentially zero in many cases. The findings suggest that meaningful differences among generations probably do not exist on the work-related variables we examined and that the differences that appear to exist are likely attributable to factors other than generational membership. Given these results, targeted organizational interventions addressing generational differences may not be effective. This is the first known quantitative review of research on generational differences in the workplace.

Retail category management: State-of-the-art review of quantitative research and software applications in assortment and shelf space management

Retail requires efficient decision support to manage increasing product proliferation and various consumer choice effects with limited shelf space. Our goal is to identify, describe and compare decision support systems for category planning. This research analyzes quantitative models and software applications in assortment and shelf space management and contributes to a more integrated modeling approach. There are difficulties commonly involved in the use of commercial software and the implementation and transfer of scientific models. Scientific decision models either focus on space-dependent demand or substitution effects, whereas software applications use simplistic rules of thumb. We show that retail assortment planning models neglect space-elastic demand and largely also ignore constraints of limited shelf space. Shelf space management streams on the other hand, mostly omit substitution effects between products when products are delisted orout-of-stock, which is the focus of consumer choice models in assortment planning. Also, the problem sizes of the models are often not relevant for realistic category sizes. Addressing these issues, this paper provides a state-of-the-art overview and research framework for integrated assortment and shelf space planning.

El metaanálisis en el ámbito de las Ciencias de la Salud: una metodología imprescindible para la eficiente acumulación del conocimiento

Meta-analysis is a methodology for the systematic and quantitative review of research that is widely consolidated and applied in Health Sciences. It offers the necessary techniques to rigorously and efficiently accumulate quantitative results on the empirical studies regarding a common health problem. It allows health care professionals to make well-informed decisions in their respective areas. In this article and with the help of some examples obtained from within the physiotherapy setting, we have described the main characteristics of meta-analysis, its execution phases and its usefulness in health care research. The relevance of meta-analysis in the evidence based medicine approach and some perspectives on the future of meta-analysis are shown.

The international harmonization progress of China Accounting Standards: A review of quantitative research

In recent years, an increasing number of quantitative researches have been conducted in the field of international harmonization of China Accounting Standards(CAS). However, differences even contradictions do exist in the conclusions due to different research perspectives, samples, variable and period selection as well as the method adopted. Firstly, this paper systematically reviews the quantitative research literature on the international harmonization progress of CAS from the following four aspects: the degree of harmonization of specific items in CAS with that of in International Accounting Standards (IAS), differences in accounting numbers, accounting information, and earnings quality in various financial reports compiled based on CAS or IAS respectively. Lastly, suggestions for future research are provided.

Validating Four Standard Scales in Spiritually Practicing and Nonpracticing Samples Using Propensity Score Matching

Validating Four Standard Scales in Spiritually Practicing and Nonpracticing Samples Using Propensity Score Matching

Why is teenage pregnancy conceptualized as a social problem? A review of quantitative research from the USA and UK

To explore why teenage pregnancy is regarded by researchers from the USA and UK as a major social problem, a systematic review was conducted of published research on the social influences on teenage pregnancy. Papers published in the USA and UK between 1981 and 2000 were examined with respect to samples, social influences and outcomes. UK studies often justified investigating teenage pregnancy in terms of health. Research from the USA more often viewed teenage pregnancy as problematic because of associated welfare expenditure. A few studies from the USA regarded teenage parenting as mediating the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Such studies often focused on Black and minority ethnic populations. Most research considered economic and cultural influences, with a bias in research from the USA on cultural factors, and in the UK on economic factors. Overall, there were significant differences between research in the USA and UK. These may have arisen from a combination of political, religious and research design factors.

Spirituality's Potential Relevance to Physical and Emotional Health: A Brief Review of Quantitative Research

Longitudinal studies of community samples consistently find links between active spiritual/religious involvement and increased chances for living longer, pointing to the relevance of spirituality/religion as a potential health factor. For a large proportion of either medically ill or mental health patients, spirituality/religion may provide coping resources, enhance pain management, improve surgical outcomes, protect against depression, and reduce risk of substance abuse and suicide. However, study findings also show patient spirituality/religion may serve as a source of conflict linked with poorer health outcomes. Whether identifying helps or harms, research elucidates the potential relevance of patients’ spirituality/religion, with potential for collaboration with trained chaplains as part of the healthcare team to provide spiritual support or deal with spiritual distress for particular patient needs.

Culturally Sensitive Parent Education: A Critical Review of Quantitative Research

Culturally Sensitive Parent Education: A Critical Review of Quantitative Research

A Quantitative Review of Research on Charismatic Leadership

This study used meta-analysis to explore the relationship between charismatic leadership and satisfaction with the leader, perceived leader's effectiveness, and performance. To maintain construct consistency Bass' 1985 conceptualization of charisma was used. Results indicate potential moderating effects for two moderators of research design (objective/subjective performance and percept-percept/multisource study design) and for two theoretically predicted moderators (organizational level of focal leader and organizational context). The results are discussed in relation to implicit leadership theory and cognitive classification theory.

A Review of Quantitative Research on Men Who Batter

A Review of Quantitative Research on Men Who Batter