Research Syntheses

The culling of available research is accomplished through the conduct of practice-based research syntheses. A practice-based research synthesis involves the systematic analysis of a narrowly defined body of research that has investigated the same or similar practice with a focus on the extent to which the relationship between the practice characteristics and their consequences replicate across studies. The practice itself, to the extent possible, is unpacked and disentangled to identify the features, elements, and factors that matter most in terms of accounting for the largest amount of covariation between the use of the practice characteristics and their effects or outcomes. The conceptual and operational framework for conducting practice-based research syntheses is described in Toward an Operational Definition of Evidence-Based Practices.

Additional information is available in Effects of Different Types of Adaptations on the Behavior of Young Children with Disabilities Which is found in the Arizona State "Tots and Tech" website: http://tnt.asu.edu/research/briefs