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473 25 RESEARCH SYNTHESIS AND PUBLIC POLICY DAVID S. CORDRAY PAUL MORPHY Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University C O N T E N T S 25.1 Introduction 474 25.2 Public Policy, Policy Makers, and the Policy Context 474 25.2.1 Who Are the Policy Makers? 475 25.2.2 Competing Agendas and Perspectives 476 25.3 Synthesis in Policy Arenas 476 25.3.1 Some Historical Trends 477 25.4 Potential Biases 478 25.4.1 The Environmental Protection Agency and Secondhand Smoke 478 25.4.2 National Institute of Education, Desegregation, and Achievement 479 25.4.3 National Reading Panel and Phonics 479 25.5 Evidence-Based Practices: Fuel for Policy-Oriented Meta-Analyses 480 25.5.1 Organizational Foundations for Evidence-Based Practices 480 25.5.1.2 Cochrane Collaboration 480 25.5.1.3 Campbell Collaboration 481 25.5.1.3 IES’s What Works Clearinghouse 481 25.5.1.4 Organizations Around the World 481 25.5.2 Additional Government Policies and Actions 481 25.6 General Types of Policy Syntheses 482 25.6.1 Policy-Driven Research Syntheses 482 25.6.2 Investigator-Initiated Policy Syntheses 483 25.7 Minimizing Bias and Maximizing Utility 483 25.7.1 Principles for Achieving Transparency 483 25.7.2 Question Specification 484 25.7.2.1 Optimizing Utility 484 25.7.3 Searches 485 25.7.4 Screening Studies 485 474 TYING RESEARCH SYNTHESIS TO SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES 25.1 INTRODUCTION These three statements are based on some form of research syntheses. Each was motivated by different interests but all share a purpose—they were conducted to inform policy makers and practitioners about what works. Rather than relying on personal opinion, a consensus of experts, or available research, each statement is based on the results of a systematic, quantitatively based synthesis. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the past, present and future roles of research synthesis in public policy arenas like the ones represented in our three examples. Because metaanalysis is the chief research synthesis method for quantitatively integrating prior evidence and is an essential focus of this handbook we do not dwell on the technical aspects of meta-analysis. Instead, we focus on contemporary features of the policy context and the potential roles of research synthesis, especially meta-analysis, as a tool for novice, journeyman, and expert policy analysts. In doing so, we briefly describe what is generally meant by the phrase public policy, highlighting its breadth and who might be involved. The discussion concludes with a characterization of how research synthesis practices and results can be influenced by the political processes associated with public policy making. Stated bluntly, politics can affect the way that analysts plan, execute, and report the findings of their studies. The end products represent a mixture of evidence and political ideology, thereby minimizing the value of what is supposed to be an orderly and relatively neutral view of evidence on a particular policy topic. 25.2 PUBLIC POLICY, POLICY MAKERS, AND THE POLICY CONTEXT It is relatively easy to recognize when statements, opinions , and actions could be construed to represent instances of public policy action. However, the phrase public policy is amorphous. Strangely enough, it is rarely defined, even in books devoted to the topic. As such, we take a common sense approach to its definition by turning to the Merriam25 .7.5 Standards of Evidence 486 25.7.5.1 Level of Evidence Approach 486 25.7.5.2 Segmentation by Credibility or Strength of Evidence 487 25.7.5.3 Best Evidence Syntheses 487 25.7.5.4 Meta-Regression Adjustment Approach 487 25.7.5.5 Combined Strategies 488 25.7.6 Moderator Variables 488 25.7.7 Reporting and Communicating Results 488 25.8 Closing Remarks and Summary 489 25.9 Acknowledgments 489 25.10 Notes 490 25.11 References 490 Raising the drinking age has a direct effect on reducing alcohol-related traffic accidents among youth affected by the laws, on average, across the states. U.S. General Accounting Office (1987)1 More time spent doing homework is positively related to achievement, but only for middle and high school students. Harris Cooper, Jorgianne Robinson, and Erika Patall (2006), Harris Cooper and Jeffrey Valentine (2001) Radiofrequency denervation can relieve pain from neck joints, but may not relieve pain originating from lumbar discs, and its impact on low-back pain is uncertain. Leena Niemisto, Eija Kalso, Antti Malmivaara, Seppo Seitsalo, and Heikki Hurri (2003) [3.17...

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