The essential guide to doing a health and social care literature review

Includes bibliographical references and index.

What is literature review methodology? -- Why carry out a review of the literature? -- What constitutes a good literature review? -- The background and rationale -- Developing the review question and aims -- Carrying out the search -- Appraising the literature -- Synthesizing the evidence -- Discussing the findings -- Drawing conclusions and making recommendations -- Disseminating the findings from a literature review -- Literature review methodology summarized.

This step-by-step guide takes the reader logically through the process of undertaking a literature review, from determining when this methodology might be useful, through to publishing the findings. It is designed particularly for students undertaking a dissertation using literature review methodology. However, it also caters to practitioners who wish to review the existing evidence in order to develop practice.