REA Toolkit
How to do an REA
Defining inclusion and exclusion criteria
The REA question and underpinning conceptual framework determine what studies should be included. The ‘inclusion criteria’ specify which studies are to be included and excluded in the REA together with justification for these decisions. They, therefore, define the studies that the search strategy is attempting to locate. This is similar to the process by which authors of primary research define the samples and populations that they intend to study and draw conclusions about.
Examples of inclusion criteria
The inclusion criteria listed below are typical for REAs. The justification for why the criteria have been chosen should be included under each of the headings.
- Nature of what’s being studied
specific practices/approaches/outcomes/ other phenomena? Why?
- Setting and population
e.g. school type, student age, adults, countries, why?
- Date of research
ever, since 1920, since 1990, Why?
- Research methods
all methods, only empirical, only certain designs? Why?
- Language of report
e.g. English only, Norwegian only, both? Why?
How will it be rapid?
REAs are carried out more speedily than systematic reviews but the example inclusion criteria demonstrate that they need be no less rigorous when it comes to determining conceptual boundaries – which, in turn, determine which studies they will contain. In order to ensure the process is rapid constraints are imposed on the inclusion criteria.
- Limiting the REA to English language only studies
- Focusing on more recent literature only.
- Check with policy colleagues which issues are of urgent concern and ensure the REA only includes studies relevant to these. This can be useful in highlighting limitations that need to be made to the setting and population, and to what is being studied (e.g. outcomes). It also places an emphasis on the importance of identifying the policy need and involving users in the REA.
- Limit the REA to look at existing systematic reviews only. Clearly, this approach will only be effective if the areas have already been reviewed systematically, but for issues likely to result in a very large number of studies – particularly likely if the question crosses multiple topic areas – this may be the only way of obtaining an answer quickly.
How to do an REA index
