Tailored and Timely: Alternatives to a Lit Review
I have been part of many community and organizational partnerships, where at some point, the suggestion comes up that a “review of the literature” could be helpful to inform the work that we are doing. The last literature review that I was involved with was a team of academic and community-based researchers and graduate students investigating the history and current context of emotional abuse and neglect cases within child maltreatment. The literature review was completed with funding from a statewide healthcare foundation and took approximately two years to complete. To summarize, the literature review included a group of 19 reviewers who hand-searched 24 peer-reviewed academic journals for articles that fit inclusion criteria. The initial search identified 697 potential articles, and the titles and abstracts were reviewed, whittling the list down to 296 articles for possible inclusion. Full texts were screened, and duplicates were removed. In total, 110 articles were included in the literature review, and three reviewers independently summarized and coded each article to identify key themes.
When working with communities and organizations, there are times when a suggestion comes up for a “review of the literature,” and we actually mean a literature review, as exemplified above. Other times, we use those words or phrases but are not actually looking for a years-long, exhaustive, and expensive process. So, what are our other options?
At 1000 Feathers, we have two other general approaches that we use when our clients are looking to inform their work in ways that are tailored and timely. These may be called different things in different spaces and places, but the main point is to be clear about your why, what, and how. We call these approaches a rapid review (of the literature) and a literature scan.
Rapid review. Components of the literature review are simplified to produce information in a timely manner. This is especially helpful for new or emerging topics or updating previously completed literature reviews. These can include gray literature and require technical skills and collaboration.
Literature scan. Process to examine a highly specific topic within a specified time period and within pre-determined sources. Requires technical skills and collaboration.
As an example, we recently completed a literature scan for One80 Place, a nonprofit organization in Charleston, SC, with a mission to end and prevent homelessness through housing and supportive services. The organization was interested in exploring and learning more about the relationships they had with landlords, the relationships they lost with landlords, and the potential for relationships with new landlords. While there were several pieces that were used to inform this work, one was a literature scan. The scan was used to learn from researchers who had used surveys to capture landlord experiences, behaviors, and/or attitudes in the last eight years in peer-reviewed publications. Additionally, the scan was used to identify local homelessness and housing surveys (i.e., city-level). Although only representing a small slice of the literature on landlords, the literature scan met the needs and goals of the client and helped to inform data collection methods and measures in South Carolina.
In much of our work with communities and organizations, the clients are fluid and ever-evolving, given changes in the social ecology. This requires our services and support to not just be responsive but to also have options to work together to meet their current needs and goals. While our team and clients can and have performed many literature reviews, most of the time, that’s not actually what we want or need. So having other options – like a rapid review or literature scan – gives us the tools and resources to effectively work alongside communities and organizations.
If your organization could benefit from our services, let us know.
