Evaluation & the Health Professions / March 2002
Chalmers et al.
/ A BRIEF HISTORY
Science is supposed to be cumulative, but scientists only rarely cumulate evidence scientifically.
This means that users of research evidence have to cope with a plethora...
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Evaluation & the Health Professions / March 2002
Chalmers et al.
/ A BRIEF HISTORY
Science is supposed to be cumulative, but scientists only rarely cumulate evidence scientifically.
This means that users of research evidence have to cope with a plethora of reports
of individual studies with no systematic
attempt made to present new results in the
context of similar studies.
Although the need
to synthesize research evidence has been recognized for well over two centuries, explicit
methods for this form of research were not
developed until the 20th century.
The development of methods to reduce statistical imprecision using quantitative synthesis (meta-analysis) preceded the development of methods to
reduce biases, the latter only beginning to
receive proper attention during the last quarter of the 20th century.
In this article, the
authors identify some of the trends and highlights in this history, to which researchers in
the physical, natural, and social sciences have
all contribut
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