Course Syllabus

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Social Work 7113: Systematic Reviews in Social Work

 Spring, 2012 

joanne.yaffe@utah.edu

Introduction

This advanced doctoral seminar is designed to introduce students to systematic reviews of research, otherwise known as quantitative syntheses or research syntheses.   Building on concepts learned in SW 7111 (Quantitative Research) and SW 7211 (Statistics I), which are prerequisites, this course should be taken concurrently with SW 7212 (Statistics II), unless that course was previously completed. This course examines advanced skills in analysis and synthesis of research, including use of electronic databases and other strategies for locating relevant research, appraisal of the risk of bias or quality of located evidence, computation of effect sizes, and strategies for summarizing and synthesizing existing research in a specific area of interest to students.  All of these skills are considered to be essential to compilation of evidence regarding descriptions of populations, correlations between variables, and effectiveness of social work interventions. Systematic review methods are critical to the development of evidence-based practice and policy and to the conduct of social work research in the 21st Century.

Course Goals & Objectives

This course is designed to teach students practical skills which will be needed for their dissertation research and beyond.  As such, students will be encouraged to focus their work for the class on areas of interest to themselves.  In addition to meeting their personal learning objectives, students are expected to meet the following general objectives. At the end of this course, students should be able to:

  1. Understand the social research implications of the movement toward evidence-based practice in social work.
  2. Locate a systematic review and to summarize its methodology and results.
  3. Specify PICOS questions related to a specific topic
  4. Specify inclusion criteria for a systematic review.
  5. Select article databases appropriate to specific PICOS questions.
  6. Select keywords, Boolean Logic terms, and methodological filters based on specific PICOS questions.
  7. Conduct a search of published literature using electronic databases and other retrieval strategies.
  8. Select journals for manual searches based on topical relevance.
  9. Conduct a manual search of journals.
  10. Understand the importance of fugitive literature in the search for evidence and plan a strategy for such a search.
  11. Select studies meeting specific inclusion criteria and describe the selection process in a flow diagram.
  12. Use EndNote to keep track of located studies.
  13. Critically appraise the risk of bias and quality of research of primary studies.
  14. Select, compute and code effect size statistics for primary studies.
  15. Develop a strategy for collecting descriptive data about primary studies.
  16. Develop appropriate tables for presenting data about primary studies.
  17. Explain how meta-analysis can be used to summarize what is known about a specific topic.
  18. Understand the implications of systematic reviews for research, practice, and policy in social work.

Disclaimer

This course is still a “work in progress.”  The readings and course expectations stated in the syllabus are the best available at the time the syllabus was developed.  As such, this syllabus is designed as a guide and may be subject to change.  All changes will be discussed in class, will be made with student input, and will be posted on Canvas.  Students who are not in class on a given day are responsible for finding out what was discussed and what modifications were made to the course.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

The University of Utah College of Social Work seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities.  If you will need accommodations in this class, reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the instructor and to the Center for Disability Services (http://disability.utah.edu/) 162 Olpin Union bldg, 581-5020 (Voice and TDD) to make arrangements for accommodations.  This information is available in alternative format with prior notification.

 

Required Texts

Cooper, H. (2010). Research synthesis and meta-analysis (4th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage. (C)

Petticrew, M. & Roberts, H. (2006).  Systematic reviews in the social sciences: A practical guide.  Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing  (P&R)

Recommended readings will be placed on electronic reserve where possible, and may be added to the syllabus throughout the semester. 

Course Summary:

Course Summary
Date Details Due