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>> Introduction to Best
Available Research Evidence:
Gathering best available
research evidence will help
to answer the following
questions:
How much scientific
research has been done
on a program, practice,
or policy?
What effects have the program,
practice, or policy had
on preventing violence?
How well does the design
of the various studies support
the validity of the findings?
What implementation guidance
is available, and what does
that guidance tell us
about resources, processes,
and capacity needed
to successfully implement the
program, practice, or policy?
>> I think the value in using
the best available research
evidence is an increased
likelihood that they are going
to be implementing programs
in their communities
that have the effects
they want them to have,
and not have no effects with a
lot of waste of money and time
and taking up resources
that could go
to something that's
effective, and taking the chance
of delivering harmful
interventions.
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>> Two important facets of best
available research evidence:
strength of the evidence --
the extent to which outcomes
can truly be attributed
to the program, practice,
or policy; effectiveness
of the program, practice,
or policy --
the existence of
desirable outcomes
and no undesirable outcomes.
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Finding best available
research evidence:
Many areas of public health,
including violence prevention,
are still developing the
research evidence base
which limits practitioners'
options
for implementing evidence-based
preventive interventions.
The designation of best
available research evidence
acknowledges the fact
that in many areas
of violence prevention,
the research evidence is
still being developed.
Best available research
evidence is strongest
when it includes studies
that are rigorously designed,
strategies that have been
replicated and evaluated
across multiple settings and
populations, and strategies
with comprehensive
guidance for implementation.
Not all violence prevention
strategies meet the highest
standards of rigor.
For example, in some situations
randomly assigning participants
to a treatment or a control
group may not be feasible
or acceptable.
In these cases,
quasi-experimental designs
may be a more feasible option.
Observational studies
and qualitative data may also
provide useful information,
although these methods
are less rigorous.
The goal remains to
seek out evidence
with the highest level
of rigor possible.
>> Then we got to look at going
to the next step and to realize
that there is a range
of types of evidence.
And so some of them are going
to be these gold-standard
randomized clinical trials
that have been done
in multiple places.
But a lot of - there is still
also evidence that's available
out there from research that
is going to be different types
of evidence, and we need
to look at - draw on those.
So published studies
is one place we go.
And there is a whole host,
and there is sort of a range
of different types of evidence.
And they tell you
different things,
and you can generalize more
from some and less from others.
>> In order to find the best
available research evidence,
a literature search might
include database searches
on relevant keywords and Web
searches on relevant government,
university, and nonprofit
registries and sites.
Many of these are publicly
available on the Internet.
Finally, research evidence
in the peer-reviewed literature
may not provide all the
information that may be
required to appraise evidence
of effectiveness completely.
It may also be useful to contact
the developers of the program,
if possible, or others who
have implemented the strategy,
to collect information
on the settings
where the program has
been implemented before;
find out how the program has
been implemented and evaluated;
and determine the availability
of implementation
guidance and support.