Herbert M. Turner

Estimating the Effects of Interventions That are Deployed in Many Places: Place-Randomized Trials

Place-randomized trials have been mounted in a variety of countries to estimate the relative effects of interventions that are intended to ameliorate problems or improve conditions in organizations and geopolitical jurisdictions. This article presents studies in which villages, police hot spots, housing developments, hospital units, schools, and other entities are the units of random allocation. The challenges to such work, approaches to meeting them, and the value added of such trials are outlined. The scientific value added includes better evidence on what works at the macro level. Web-oriented registers of such trials are being developed by the Campbell Collaboration.

Populating an International Web-Based Randomized Trials Register in the Social, Behavioral, Criminological, and Education Sciences

Underlying the work of the Campbell Collaboration (C2) is the Sociological, Psychological, Educational, and Criminological Trials Register (C2-SPECTR). A Web-accessible database, C2-SPECTR is unique in the world. With more than 11,600 citations, it is an international register on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or possible trials. This article describes the framework for populating C2-SPECTR, other registers that are prospective, and the practical issues of implementation. The authors discuss the growing importance of RCTs and the recent histories of organizations that have influenced this growth—the Cochrane Collaboration, the C2, and the What Works Clearinghouse. Next, the authors describe the origins of C2-SPECTR and plans to populate it and a prospective register. The authors conclude with plans for implementing the surveillance systems and the anticipated challenges in actualizing these plans.

Information retrieval and the role of the information specialist in producing high-quality systematic reviews in the social, behavioural and education sciences

The International Campbell Collaboration (C2) prepares, maintains, and disseminates high-quality systematic reviews in the social, behavioural and educational sciences. As part of its effort to ensure that systematic reviews are based on a set of systematic, transparent and replicable procedures, C2 has produced a set of policy briefs. One of these, the C2 Information Retrieval Policy Brief proposes policies for searching the literature for C2 reviews, addresses key issues and challenges faced by C2 reviewers, and recommends working with an Information Specialist (IS). This article illustrates how the information retrieval issues raised in the Brief have been addressed by one C2 review team, through the inclusion of an IS as an integral member of their review team. This unique approach recognises that information retrieval is a continuous and important process, requiring the ongoing expertise of a professional. Cost implications for the provision of ongoing support by an IS are briefly addressed, along with various alternative approaches.

This systematic review empirically documents that the effectiveness of Orton-Gillingham and Orton-Gillingham-based reading instruction remains to be determined1

Data sources: The review authors searched databases most likely to yield relevant studies: ERIC; ECER; PsycINFO; and PROQUEST dissertations. Search terms used were reported in the methods section. In addition to electronic searches, authors hand-searched the journals most likely to yield relevant studies. The journals searched were also reported in the methods section. To identify additional studies, authors examined the reference lists of relevant study reports retrieved from electronic and hand searches. To their credit, authors acknowledged that their searches were limited to studies published formally and did not include grey literature. In other words, the studies included in this review had only been published in peerreviewed journals.How effective are Orton–Gillingham (OG) and Orton–Gillingham-based (OG-based) programs in improving reading and reading-related outcomes for K–16 students? 1 Abstracted from: Ritchey, K.D., & Goeke...

Producing systematic reviews of interventions in speech–language pathology: A framework for sustainability

Systematic reviews in the health and social sciences are increasingly recognized as a valuable scientific tool to support decision making by clinicians, managers, administrators, and policy makers. Numerous organizations have arisen to fulfill growing demand for high-integrity systematic reviews with practical applications, each with a unique model for their review production process. This paper presents the results of a purposive sample of current production models in use by organizations engaged in the production of systematic reviews to support evidence-based practice. This paper also evaluates elements of review production such as major review steps, evidence standards, resource use, and cost. The results provide a potential framework for organizing resources to conduct systematic reviews. Applying this framework, producers can identify key areas of systematic-review production with the best fit between individual production models and their organizations mission and policy environment.

Plenty of evidence but no clear answers to what therapies improve symptoms associated with autism spectrum disorders

Abstracted from: Ospina, M. B., Seida, J. K., Clark, B., Karkhaneh, H., Hartlin, L., Tjosvold, L., Vandermeer, B., & Smith, V. (2008). Behavioral and developmental interventions for autism spectrum disorder: A clinical systematic review. PLoS ONE, 3, 1–32. Source of funding: No source of funding reported.

Features of interventions that appear to result in positive impact in treatment of children with autism1

Features of interventions that appear to result in positive impact in treatment of children with autism Herbert M. Turner III & Chad Nye (Commentary authors), Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA and University of Central Florida, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Center for Autism & Related Disabilities, Orlando, FL, USA ...............................................................................................................................................