Systematic Reviews (Open Learning)

Systematic reviews may examine quantitative or qualitative evidence. In the past systematic reviews were predominantly medical and often with a narrowly defined focus. 

Quantitative 

If the focus of your systematic review is to find quantitative research, you may be looking for studies:

• that use experimental or observational methods
• that involve the use of numbers in the collection of data
• where there is no involvement between the researcher and the participant
• which usually have a lot of participants and therefore generalised findings can be made and applied in wider contexts

Examples of quantitative research are:

• Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs)
• Cohort studies
• Case Control studies
• Correlation studies
• Cross-sectional studies (including surveys/questionnaires)

If you are unsure of the type of research you are looking at, some key features of quantitative research are: random sampling, descriptive or inferential statistics, p-values, confidence intervals, risk ratios and odd ratios.