Book Review: Title: Towards Methodologically Inclusive Research Syntheses: Expanding Possibilities
| DOI | 10.1177/1035719X1401400108 |
| Date | 01 September 2014 |
| Author | Brad Astbury |
| Published date | 01 September 2014 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
48 Evaluation Journal of Australasia Vol 14 | No 1 | 2014
About 300 km west of Melbourne lies the seaside town
of Warrnambool, a popular destination for summer
holiday-makers. Many travel to Warrnambool via the
iconic Great Ocean Road. Those who opt for the shortest
route cut directly through the Western District basalt
farming plains, home to hundreds of dormant and extinct
volcanoes. During pastoral settlement in the 1860s,
volcanic stone was cleared by hand and used to construct
a vast network of dry stone walls. These walls do not
use mud or cement, relying instead on the skill of the
craftsmen to make them sturdy and durable.
When discussing research synthesis I sometimes
use the analogy of the bricklayer and dry-wall artisan.
Traditional approaches, such as statistical meta-analysis,
can be a little like bricklaying. ‘Evidence’ comes in
discrete, uniform chunks, mortared together following
strict procedures for aggregating results of similar
experimental studies on similar types of interventions.
Other forms of research synthesis, such as meta-
ethnography, qualitative-narrative review and realist
synthesis accommodate varied types of evidence but are
less standardised and rely heavily on the experience and
expertise of the reviewer.
Dierent approaches have dierent strengths and
limitations, and are more or less suitable depending
on purpose, available time and resource constraints.
Increasingly, the field of research synthesis is moving
towards rapprochement, following broad lines of inquiry
established by mixed methods advocates in the 1990s.
This involves, among other things, exploring the potential
value of combining synthesis techniques, rather than
viewing alternatives as mutually exclusive paradigms. A
‘synthesis of syntheses’ genre is emerging, where the focus
is planned eclecticism and openness to methodological
diversity.
Towards Methodologically Inclusive Research
Syntheses: Expanding Possibilities demonstrates ways to
progress this project and raises several questions that aim
to ‘sensitize producers and users of research syntheses to
a wide range of methodological choices that can impact
upon the synthesis findings’ (p. 7). Suri encourages
researchers to ‘think beyond our current comfort zones’
and develop ‘critical sensibilities’ regarding several key
considerations involved in planning, conducting and
using results from research synthesis. The book is a
welcome addition to a now burgeoning literature on
■ Author
Harsh Suri
■ Publisher/year
Routledge, London, 2013
■ Extent/type
216 pages, hardback
■ Price
A$199.99/NZ$233.99 from TLD Online, phone
+61 2 8778 9999, email
enquiries@tldistribution.com.au
, website
http://www.tldonline.com.au
■ ISBN 978-0-470-47857-8
evidence-based policymaking (EBP) and systematic review
methods.
Although the precise meaning is contested, in essence,
EBP stresses the need for government decisions to be
informed by the best available evidence about what works.
An important push for EBP was advanced by the ‘New
Labour’ British government, which in their Modernising
Government White Paper (Cabinet Oce 1999) expressed
aspirations for ‘better use of evidence and research in
policy making and better focus on policies that will
deliver long-term goals’ (Chapter 2, paragraph 6). The
establishment of international organisations such as the
Campbell Collaboration have promoted the evidence-
based ‘what works’ ethos further, almost to the extent
that it now sounds like a popular mantra.
Politics often trump evidence and also seep into the
process of producing evidence. Oakley (2000) implies
as much in her book Experiments in Knowing, and
suggests there is nothing particularly new about the
idea of EBP. Indeed, for an example of rational ideology
in government, evaluators need only look back to the
first boom period of our discipline—the Great Society
reforms of the 1960s in the United States. What is perhaps
novel is the newfound ascendency of EBP among today’s
policymakers, social scientists and evaluators.
The rise of systematic research synthesis is linked
closely to this latest boom period of evidence-based
everything. Stand-alone evaluations are losing favour
as the preferred methodological partner of policy
Title: Towards Methodologically Inclusive Research
Syntheses: Expanding Possibilities
BOOK REVIEW Evaluation Journal of Australasia Vol 14 | No 1 | 2014 | pp. 48–50
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