Heisterkamp & Bonsel (1999) argues that systematic reviews can also be used to assess what other researchers have done in a particular field over a period of time. By the virtue that systematic reviews makes use of existing scientific evidence, it allows researchers conducting the review to assess what has been done in a certain field. Heisterkamp, & Bonsel (1999) believes that through systematic literature reviews, the gap in existing scientific evidence is easily identified and reasons as to why same research investigating a similar phenomenon differs are identified.
Systematic reviews have the capability of replicating results and gaining a deeper insight as to how some conclusions were arrived at or why research findings differ. Systematic reviews are also used when there is a disparity and considerable doubts arising from different primary studies. For instance, if there rise a situation in the medical field where different research about the ability of a certain drug to cure a disease, systematic literature reviews may be used to eliminate the doubts.
Where such conflicts of data are common and are misleading the public causing chaos and panic, systematic reviews are conducted to explain the data and eliminate the inconsistencies. Irwin, Tosteson, Gatsonis, Lau, & Mosteller, (1994) believes that the quality of single researches in contributing to solve problems especially in the medical field is also explored through systematic reviews. Green, & Glasgow, (2006) argues that, systematic reviews are also used for the purposes of establishing generalisability of single studies that may have been conducted and were only practical in particular settings.
When researchers conduct single studies, they do so in view of a particular problem in a particular setting. Green, & Glasgow, (2006) identified that single studies may not have been conducted with the view that they can be generalized to different settings and this contributes to adding the uses of systematic reviews. Systematic reviews incorporate different studies that have been done by different researchers in different parts of the world and are then generalized in various situations other than the ones there were primarily intended for improving the usefulness of single studies.
There is no doubt as to whether systematic literature review is important in medical fields. The reviews are a way of summarizing existing data that is let out to consumers. It has been acknowledged (Savoie, Helmer, Green, & Kazanjian, 2003) that systematic literature reviews do serve the purpose of refining the data that is available to consumers and offering quality data that is accurate and free from bias. Shojania & Simpson et al, (2007) argues that with advancement in technology, more and more people are resulting into buying products online basing their decisions on the literature they can find on online sources.
Companies and individuals on the other hand can result in publishing primary information that suits their products and woes the buyer into buying the company’s products as a marketing strategy. In the global scenario, ethics have become a thing of the past and every man is left for him/herself. This is a very dangerous scenario especially in the medical field where products relating to healthcare are manufactured. If there are no systematic reviews to query research evidence into medical findings, people would be at greater risk of using products which can increase diseases if not lethal to the body.
Other social research studies are following suit in using systematic reviews for them to be able to handle the enormous data that is being published continually.
References
Anderson, M. , Brown, T. , & Fielding, J. 2005, Evidence-Based Public Health Policy and Practice: Promises and Limits: American Journal of Preventive Medicine: Vol. 28, No. 5, Pp. 30 – 226. Bailey, J. , Budgen, D. , Turner, M. , Kitchenham B. , Brereton, P. and Linkam, S. 2007, Evidence Relating To Object: New York: Sage Publications: Pp. 15 http://dx.doi.org/