The Scoping Review Method: Mapping the Literature in “Structural Change” Public Health Interventions
Document Type
Review Article
Publication Date
Winter 2-24-2017
Journal / Book Title
Sage Research Methods cases
Abstract
This case discusses how we used scoping review methodology to map the literature in an emergent area of research, “structural change” public health interventions. Scoping reviews are similar to systematic reviews in both scale and rigor; both of these literature review methodologies are comprehensive approaches to reviewing the literature on a topic. However, while a systematic review attempts to answer a specific, targeted research question, a scoping review is designed to map and categorize all of the literature on a broad topic. For this reason, it is an excellent method to employ in emergent research areas, in which researchers have not yet conducted systematic reviews or otherwise attempted to record the entirety of a scholarly conversation. In this case report, we discuss advantages and disadvantages to the methodology, as well as the lessons we learned from our experience, and our recommendations for researchers who utilize this method. We encountered challenges including time limitations, finding a balance between a search strategy that was neither too narrow nor too broad, and adjusting the search throughout the process to accommodate new vocabulary terms as we discovered them.
DOI
10.4135/9781473999008
MSU Digital Commons Citation
Hanneke, Rosie; Asada, Yuka; Lieberman, Lisa D.; Neubauer, Leah Christina; and Fagan, Michael C., "The Scoping Review Method: Mapping the Literature in “Structural Change” Public Health Interventions" (2017). Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works. 94.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/public-health-facpubs/94
Published Citation
Hanneke, Rosie, Yuka Asada, Lisa Lieberman, Leah Christina Neubauer, and Michael Fagen. "The Scoping Review Method: Mapping the Literature in “Structural Change” Public Health Interventions." (2017).
Included in
Clinical Epidemiology Commons, Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Environmental Public Health Commons, Epidemiology Commons, Health Services Administration Commons, Health Services Research Commons, International Public Health Commons, Other Public Health Commons, Patient Safety Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons