Traditional Review Methods Research Articles

A bibliometric analysis of climate engineering research

The past five years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of media and scientific publications on the topic of climate engineering, or geoengineering, and some scientists are increasingly calling for more research on climate engineering as a possible supplement to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. In this context, understanding the current state of climate engineering research can help inform policy discussions and guide future research directions. Bibliometric analysis—the quantitative analysis of publications—is particularly applicable to fields with large bodies of literature that are difficult to summarize by traditional review methods. The multidisciplinary nature of the published literature on climate engineering makes it an ideal candidate for bibliometric analysis. Publications on climate engineering are found to be relatively recent (more than half of all articles during 1988–2011 were published since 2008), include a higher than average percentage of nonresearch articles (30% compared with 8–15% in related scientific disciplines), and be predominately produced by countries located in the Northern Hemisphere and speaking English. The majority of this literature focuses on land‐based methods of carbon sequestration, ocean iron fertilization, and solar radiation management and is produced with little collaboration among research groups. This study provides a summary of existing publications on climate engineering, a perspective on the scientific underpinnings of the global dialogue on climate engineering, and a baseline for quantitatively monitoring the development of climate engineering research in the future. WIREs Clim Change 2013, 4:417–427. doi: 10.1002/wcc.229This article is categorized under: Climate, History, Society, Culture > Disciplinary Perspectives Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Knowledge and Practice

Efficient software review process for small and medium enterprises

A considerable amount of software is produced world-wide by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These organisations do not have enough resources to implement a rigorous quality plan. It has been established that reviews of various artifacts play a very important role in ensuring the quality of software. Traditional review methods are rigorous and their implementation is cumbersome for SMEs. A new review process which is easy to implement and requires almost no documentation is introduced. It is based on reviewers' efforts to produce high-quality software while minimising the inspection cost. Additionally, people who are conducting this review need not be present at the same place during most phases of the review process. This process has been successfully implemented in a CMM level 3 software development company intending to achieve CMMI level 5 and results are found to be quite encouraging.

Conventional Approach Of Combining P-Values Using Chi-Square Test: An Essence of Meta Analysis

Meta analysis refers to the analysis of analyses. It is the statistical analysis of a large collection of analysis results from individual studies for the purpose of integrating the findings.1 Researches in biosocial sciences like anthropology, human anatomy, anthropometry etc which undertake a lot of measurements offer a good scope for biostatisticians to conventionally carry out preferably multivariate statistical analysis of data. Meta analytic approach of research synthesis is now becoming popular and enjoying wider acceptability in medicine and biosocial sciences. Unlike traditional methods, meta-analysis uses the summary statistics from individual studies as the data points. For example, if study X reported a mean decrease in systolic blood pressure of 5 mmHg in 50 subjects and study Y reported a mean decrease of 2 mmHg in 65 subjects, total n for analysis would be 2, however, these data would be based on a total of 115 subjects. Meta analysis provides a strong alternative to the more traditional review methods, and allow for quantitative conclusions to be reached. There are a variety of different procedures for conducting a Meta analysis.

Conventional Approach of Combining P-Values Using Chi-Square Test: An Essence of Meta Analysis

Meta analysis refers to the analysis of analyses. It is the statistical analysis of a large collection of analysis results from individual studies for the purpose of integrating the findings.1 Researches in biosocial sciences like anthropology, human anatomy, anthropometry etc which undertake a lot of measurements offer a good scope for biostatisticians to conventionally carry out preferably multivariate statistical analysis of data. Meta analytic approach of research synthesis is now becoming popular and enjoying wider acceptability in medicine and biosocial sciences. Unlike traditional methods, meta-analysis uses the summary statistics from individual studies as the data points. For example, if study X reported a mean decrease in systolic blood pressure of 5 mmHg in 50 subjects and study Y reported a mean decrease of 2 mmHg in 65 subjects, total n for analysis would be 2, however, these data would be based on a total of 115 subjects. Meta analysis provides a strong alternative to the more traditional review methods, and allow for quantitative conclusions to be reached. There are a variety of different procedures for conducting a Meta analysis.

Meta-Statistics and Internet

Meta-Statistics is a term used synonymously for popular term meta-analysis, which refers to analysis of analyses. It is a statistical procedure of accumulating results across independent studies on similar topic. Unlike conventional methods, meta-analysis uses the summary statistics from individual studies as the data points. For example, if study Y reported a mean decrease in serum cholesterol of 10 mg/dl in 45 subjects and study Z reported a mean decrease of 6 mg/dl in 60 subjects, total n for analysis would be 2, however, these data would be based on a total of 105 subjects. Metaanalysis may prove to be a strong alternative to the more traditional review methods allowing quantitative conclusions to be reached. In conventional studies also a researcher while discussing the results incorporates exclusively similar relevant findings of other previous publications. Broadly speaking, the terms merger and integration reflect the spirit of meta-analysis and conventional review methodology respectively. Application of meta-analysis techniques is now fast growing, becoming popular and gaining acceptability. Internet has brought revolution in meta-analytic approach of research. Earlier, searching literature manually required enough time and patience, and sometimes due to non-availability, certain important publications could not be accumulated in metaanalyses. Internet search engine has now enabled fast search of literature and easy availability of full text of atleast recent publications. This has led to substantial increase in metaanalytic approach of accumulating research findings across studies. Meta-statisticians may feel obliged rather say, indebted of the Internet that is providing speedy and free access of the basic raw materials for shaping their conceptualization.

Using database information in your clinical practice

Background. Clinical database information is in wide demand, but it is not always used to its full potential. Clinicians must learn to be the experts and to assert leadership in the use of their own data. Methods. Clinical databases provide unique perspectives on the full process of care for a heterogeneous population of patients. They focus beyond individual providers, to their interaction within a complex system of care. Exploring questions that arise from this data can identify system issues, which are invisible to individual practitioners or specialties using other traditional review methods. Results. Clinical database information helped our hospital staff identify problems in their approach to a small subset of high risk coronary bypass patients. Multiple system changes resulted in a dramatic reduction in mortality. Collateral impact on all care reduced overall mortality from 4.5% to below 2%. Conclusions. The greatest opportunities for improvement in patient care often lie in the areas where specialties or teams interface, eg, in overlapping or transferring care. The whole system of care for each patient must be optimized, not just the individual specialty components. Clinical database information provides a way to evaluate and improve the overall process and results of the broader system of patient care.

Potential Advantages of the Meta-Analysis Technique for Research in Special Education

The author discusses the advantages of meta-analysis for research in special education. The need for research synthesis is explored as well as the benefits of meta-analysis, particularly those related to understanding and explanation. The problems with traditional review methods are discussed, with special relevance to their failure to resolve problems. Finally, the findings from several meta-analyses are summarized and contrasted with traditional reviews. It is concluded that meta-analysis offers advantages for explicating problems and issues in this field.

Fragile Findings, Complex Conclusions, and Meta-Analysis in Special Education

An introduction to meta-analysis as a method of research synthesis is presented. Research in special education is marked by many sources of variation that lead to fragile and complex findings. Although such outcome variation is valuable, controversy surrounds the best method for providing a comprehensive summary. Traditional review methods found in narrative and box-score techniques possess both theoretical and pragmatic difficulties that limit their usefulness. Quantitative methods like meta-analysis are suggested to achieve the scope and form necessary for accumulating evidence. The methods of meta-analysis are discussed, including problem formulation, study location, classifying and coding studies, data analysis, effective size interpretation, data aggregation, and conclusions. The advantages and problems of the meta-analysis approach are then discussed.

Meta-Analysis and Cross-Cultural Comparison

This article argues for the application of meta-analysis to cross-cultural comparison as an adjunct to traditional review methods. The objective means of combining results of independent hypothesis tests provided by meta-analysis is illustrated through an examination of the literature on sex differences in child competitiveness. The results indicate an overall tendency for males to be more competitive than females. However, analysis within cultures indicates that this is not a universal trend. The utility of meta-analysis and the problems encountered in its cross-cultural application are discussed. It is concluded that the use of meta-analysis in conjunction with cross-cultural comparison provides a means of theory advancement of great potential.