Asking the right questions: scoping studies in the commissioning of research on the organisation and delivery of health services.
Asking the right questions: scoping studies in the commissioning of research on the organisation and delivery of health services.
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DOI：
10.1186/1478-4505-6-7
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发表时间：
2008-07-09
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
Goodwin, Nick
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Anderson, Stuart;Allen, Pauline;Goodwin, Nick
范围研究已被用于一系列学科，用于各种各样的目的。然而，由于缺乏定义和明确的目的，其价值日益受到限制。英国的服务提供和组织研究计划（SDO）有丰富的经验，委托和使用这样的研究; 24现在已经完成。这篇评论文章有四个目标：描述的性质，已委托SDO计划的范围研究;考虑的影响和使用作出这样的研究;为可能构成范围研究的不同元素提供定义;并描述可持续发展目标计划在委托进行范围研究时所汲取的教训。范围研究的定义并不精确，但通常由一个或多个独立的组成部分组成;最常见的是对文献的非系统性审查，但其他重要内容是文献摸底、概念摸底和政策摸底。一些范围界定研究还涉及与包括研究最终用户在内的利益攸关方进行磋商，范围界定研究被用于各种各样的目的，尽管一个共同的特点是确定未来研究的问题和主题。范围界定研究报告的影响往往超出了向研究专员通报未来研究领域的范围;有些报告已在同行评议的期刊上发表，另一些报告则以研究摘要的形式发表，面向更广泛的卫生服务管理人员和决策者。范围界定小组必须是多学科的，并有足够的时间综合各种调查结果;研究专员不仅要明确范围界定研究的目的，而且要明确其预期用途。这就需要研究人员和专员之间定期接触，范围研究是研究方法组合中的一个基本要素，特别是作为帮助研究专员和决策者提出正确问题的一种机制。通过进一步确认各个组成部分，将进一步加强其效用，并提供了各个组成部分的定义。
Scoping studies have been used across a range of disciplines for a wide variety of purposes. However, their value is increasingly limited by a lack of definition and clarity of purpose. The UK's Service Delivery and Organisation Research Programme (SDO) has extensive experience of commissioning and using such studies; twenty four have now been completed.This review article has four objectives; to describe the nature of the scoping studies that have been commissioned by the SDO Programme; to consider the impact of and uses made of such studies; to provide definitions for the different elements that may constitute a scoping study; and to describe the lessons learnt by the SDO Programme in commissioning scoping studies.Scoping studies are imprecisely defined but usually consist of one or more discrete components; most commonly they are non-systematic reviews of the literature, but other important elements are literature mapping, conceptual mapping and policy mapping. Some scoping studies also involve consultations with stakeholders including the end users of research.Scoping studies have been used for a wide variety of purposes, although a common feature is to identify questions and topics for future research. The reports of scoping studies often have an impact that extends beyond informing research commissioners about future research areas; some have been published in peer reviewed journals, and others have been published in research summaries aimed at a broader audience of health service managers and policymakers.Key lessons from the SDO experience are the need to relate scoping studies to a particular health service context; the need for scoping teams to be multi-disciplinary and to be given enough time to integrate diverse findings; and the need for the research commissioners to be explicit not only about the aims of scoping studies but also about their intended uses. This necessitates regular contact between researchers and commissioners.Scoping studies are an essential element in the portfolio of approaches to research, particularly as a mechanism for helping research commissioners and policy makers to ask the right questions. Their utility will be further enhanced by greater recognition of the individual components, definitions for which are provided.