Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023 G-02 Uris Hall 2:40pm

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Most professional policy makers agree that sound policy must be based on scientific evidence. Yet, how do we get the evidence out of a large quantity of scientific information? How do we know that the evidence is accurate? Or that it will apply to our special circumstances? Or, what to do when different studies seem to point into different directions? A systematic review of the literature is the way to go. When conducted properly, it produces a concise synthesis of a large body of research on a given topic. The purpose of this session is to offer an introduction to the process of conducting a systematic review. We will (i) distinguish between systematic review and other forms of literature review; (ii) describe and illustrate the basics steps in a systematics review; (iii) discuss some examples and (iv) highlight the strengths and weakness of these reviews. Illustrations from Africa will be presented to illustrate how reviews can be incorporated into to the broader process of designing evidence-based policy..