An example of a typology of evidence (example refers to social interventions in children) (adapted from Muir Gray24)
Research question | Qualitative research | Survey | Case-control studies | Cohort studies | RCTs | Quasi-experimental studies | Non experimental evaluations | Systematic reviews |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Effectiveness | ||||||||
Does this work? Does doing this work better than doing that? | + | ++ | + | +++ | ||||
Process of service delivery | ||||||||
How does it work? | ++ | + | + | +++ | ||||
Salience | ||||||||
Does it matter? | ++ | ++ | +++ | |||||
Safety | ||||||||
Will it do more good than harm? | + | + | + | ++ | + | + | +++ | |
Acceptability | ||||||||
Will children/parents be willing to or want to take up the service offered? | ++ | + | + | + | + | +++ | ||
Cost effectiveness | ||||||||
Is it worth buying this service? | ++ | +++ | ||||||
Appropriateness | ||||||||
Is this the right service for these children? | ++ | ++ | ++ | |||||
Satisfaction with the service | ||||||||
Are users, providers, and other stakeholders satisfied with the service? | ++ | ++ | + | + | + |