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Systematic Reviews for Social Sciences

Assess the Quality of the Studies

Assessment of study quality gives an indication of the strength of the evidence provided by your review. It helps determine whether the studies are vigorous enough to guide understanding of and improvements to practices, policies, and procedures.

Quality assessment of any study is likely to consider:

  • Appropriateness of study design to the research objective
  • Risk of bias
  • Other issues related to study quality
    • Choice of outcome measure
    • Statistical issues
    • Quality of reporting
    • Quality of the intervention
    • Generalizability/replicability

For more information, see Chapter 5, How to Appraise the Studies: An Introduction to Assessing Study Quality, in Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences: A Practical Guide.