Evidence Base Camp: Day 2Practical Group Sessions

Ian Macey – National Police LibraryLevin Wheller – Research Unit

Research question

• What interventions have been shown to be effective in preventing or reducing theft from the person

Session Outline

• Practical session• Walk through of an example search• Develop search terms for our

question area• Look at each ‘tier’ of our search in

turn

Recap

The process (in a nutshell)

1. Draft search terms

2. Draft sift criteria

3. Sift received abstracts

4. Request full papers

5. Read and ‘grade’ papers

6. Write it up (‘synthesis’)

Terms Results

Anywhere in the article

“Domestic violence” 597,000

“Domestic abuse” 32,500

Title only

“Domestic violence" 23,700

“Domestic abuse” 1,220

Published since 2000 (title only)

“Domestic violence" 13,200

“Domestic abuse” 822

Adding ‘randomised controlled trial’

“Domestic violence" 0

“Domestic violence" 0

Adding ‘experiment’

“Domestic violence" 32

“Domestic abuse” 0

Adding ‘systematic review’

“Domestic violence" 7

“Domestic abuse” 0

• Search terms are hugely important

• Today’s session will really focus on our search terms and their impacts.

• Librarians and Researchers to help run live pilot searches

• Group work to build our search terms

Practical example of searching

What works in preventing residential burglary?

• Boolean is a powerful tool and can be used to create quite complex searches. The standard Boolean operators are:

ANDORNOT (or AND NOT)

• Boolean is most effective when used in combination with:

PARENTHESES (round brackets)TRUNCATION e.g. politic*WILDCARDS e.g. randomi?eDOUBLE QUOTES for specific phrases

The Basics Boolean operators

What works in preventing residential burglary?

• Run through each of the basic functions • Combine tiers together to show impact of

tiers in reducing number of papers

Creating a search stringexample of domestic violence

• String should be based around the research question:

• What works in the policing of public order?

• How can we reduce recidivism amongst sexual offenders?

• Each key aspect identified will then make up one Tier of the search.

• The tiers will then be combined to create the complete search string.

Creating a Search String

• There are usually three tiers, but there can be as many or as few as the search requires.

• The standard way to create tiers is create lists of synonyms within a table, eg.

Tiers

Tier 1 Frozen Dessert

Tier 2 Wafer

Tier 3Syrup

Ice creamFroyoSorbetGrannita

WaferWaffle

Golden syrupMaple syrupChocolate sauceStrawberry sauce

Domestic violence example

Tier 1. Domestic violence / Domestic abuse• This is the main area of the search.

Q: What are the risks/ predictive factors associated with domestic violence/ abuse?

Tier 2. Risk factors/ predictive factors• These terms interact with the main subject of the search.

Tier 3. Effectiveness / What works• We want to capture evidence that is evaluative, rather than commentary.

Tier 4. Policing (?)• We may want to limit our search to factors for the police and policing, or we

might decide we are interested in factors identified from healthcare or other potential partners.

Building our search string using synonyms

Tier 1: Domestic violence/ abuse

Tier 2:Risk/ predictive factors

Tier 3:Effectiveness

Tier 4:Policing

•Domestic violence•Domestic abuse•Intimate partner violence•Intimate-partner violence (hyphenated)•Intimate partner femicide •Spousal assault•Partner violence•Battered women•Wife assault•Repeated violence•Couple violence•Domestic murder

•Risk assessment•Risk management•Risk appraisal•Risk of homicide•Prediction of homicide•Nursing assessment•Lethality risk assessment•Predicting/ predictive•Dangerousness assessment

•Evaluation•Assessment•“What works”•Impact•Randomised controlled trial•Trial•Experiment•Systematic review

•Police•Policing•Law Enforcement

Q: What are the risks/ predictive factors associated with domestic violence/ abuse?

Turning synonyms into search terms

• ((Domestic OR Physical OR Emotional OR Familial OR Marital OR Spousal) AND (Abus* OR violen* OR control* OR behav*)) OR Coerc* OR “domestic homicide” OR “marital rape” OR “intimate partner violence” OR “repeat victim*” OR “women’s refuge”

• C. 197,000 results

Research question

• What interventions have been shown to be effective in preventing or reducing theft from the person

Factors in our question

Tier 1. Theft from the personTier 2. Prevention or ReductionTier 3. InterventionTier 4. What WorksTier 5. Policing

Tier 1 Synonyms –

• Robbery (attempt*)• Mugging• Dipping• Pickpocketing• Assault with intent to rob• Snatching• Theft from person

• Theft from individual• Conspiracy to rob• Stealing from person• Distraction thefts • street crime• Bag theft• Bag snatch• Personal theft• Mobile phone theft

Tier 1 - Version 1 - ProQuest

• ab(robb* OR mugg* OR dipp* OR ("pick pocket*" OR pickpocket* OR pick?pocket) OR "assault with intent to rob" OR snatch* OR "theft from person" OR "theft from individual" OR "personal theft" or "conspiracy to rob" OR "stealing from person" OR "distraction theft*" OR "street crime*" OR "bag theft" OR "bag snatch" OR "personal theft" OR "mobile phone theft") OR ti(robb* OR mugg* OR dipp* OR ("pick pocket*" OR pickpocket* OR pick?pocket) OR "assault with intent to rob" OR snatch* OR "theft from person" OR "theft from individual" OR "personal theft" or "conspiracy to rob" OR "stealing from person" OR "distraction theft*" OR "street crime*" OR "bag theft" OR "bag snatch" OR "personal theft" OR "mobile phone theft")

• C. 220k

Tier 2 Synonyms – prevention and reduction

• Synonyms Column 1• Prevent*• Reduc*• Decreas*• Fall• falling• Cease• Stop*• Deter*• Divert*• Declin*• Eradicate• solve

• Synonyms Column 2• Minimi?*• Halt• Tackl*• Resolv*• Lessen• Curtail*• Remov*• Thwart*• Inhibit*• Avert• Diminish• Lower*

Lunch

Tier 2 - Version 1 - ProQuest

• Prevent* OR Reduc* OR Decreas* OR Fall OR Falling OR Cease OR Stop* OR Deter* OR Divert* OR Declin* OR Eradicat* OR solve* OR Minimi?* OR Halt OR Tackl* OR Resolv* OR Lessen* OR Curtail* OR Remov* OR Thwart* OR Inhibit* OR Avert* OR Diminish* OR Lower*

• Approximate number of hits: 1,900,000

Tier 2 - Version 2 - ProQuest

• Search terms

• Approximate number of hits

Tier 2 - Version 3 - ProQuest

• Search terms

• Approximate number of hits

Tier 3 Synonyms – Intervention

• Synonyms Column 1• Publicity• Multi-agency approach• Enforcement• Problem solving• Strategies• Tactics• Positive action• Partnership• Activit*• Initiative*• Operation*

• Synonyms Column 2• Options• Solutions• Approach• Procedure• Pilot• Action*• Target*• Hotspot policing

Tier 3 - Version 1 - ProQuest

• Interven* OR Publicity OR “Multi?agenc*” OR Enforc* OR “Problem?solving” OR “problem?oriented” OR Strateg* OR Tactic* OR “Positive action*” OR Partnership* OR Activit* OR Initiative* OR Operation* OR Option* OR Solution* OR Approach* OR Procedur* OR Pilot* OR Action* OR Target* OR “Hot?spot policing” OR trial*

• Approximate number of hits 3,100,000

Tier 3 - Version 2 - ProQuest

• Search terms

• Approximate number of hits

Tier 3 - Version 3 - ProQuest

• Search terms

• Approximate number of hits

Tier 4 Synonyms - ProQuest

• Tier 4 – WHAT WORKS• “systematic review*” OR “Rapid evidence

assessment” OR “literature review*” OR trial OR RCT OR experiment OR evaluat* OR “best practice*” OR “Good practice*” OR effective* OR Assess* OR “What works” or impact OR success*

• Tier 4 = 2,447,135 records

Tier 5 Synonyms -ProQuest

• Tier 5 – POLICING

• Police OR policing OR “law enforcement”

• Tier 5 = 216,888 records

Initial merging of terms• Version X of Tier 1 + Version X of Tier 2 =• c XXXX records• + Tier 3 = c. XXXX records• + Tier 4 = c. XXXX records• + Tier 5 = c. XXXX records

• Issues/ questions/ queries• What surprised you, etc

This exercise

1. Shows the value of systematically searching2. Shows the impact of having multiple tiers in our searches3. Gives us an idea of the number of articles that might be

relevant to our research question…

• At the next evidence base camp we will sift through the abstracts based on inclusion/ exclusion criteria to identify the full papers to request for the review.

• Email: Library@college.pnn.police.uk Web: www.college.police.uk

Theft

Pickpocket*“Pick Pocket*”Mugg*“Street Robber*”“Theft from the person”“Mobile phone*” OR “Cell Phone*”Wallet* OR purse* or (Bag OR Bags)

Theft Search String

• Pickpocket* OR “pick pocket*” OR mugg* OR “street robber*” OR “theft from the person” OR ((theft OR snatch OR robber* OR dip*) AND (person OR persons OR “mobile phone*” OR “cell phone*” OR wallet* OR purse* or bag*))

Prevention or Reduction

Prevent*Reduc*Stop*Decreas*Tackl*

Prevent* OR reduc* OR stop* OR decrease* or tackl*

Intervention

Tactic*Intervention*Strateg*Initiative*Procedure*Approach*Tactic* OR intervention* OR strateg* OR

initiative* OR procedure* OR approach*

What Works (1)

“Systematic Review*”“Rapid evidence assessment*”“Literature Review*”TrialRCT OR “Randomised Control Trial”Experiment*Evaluat*

What Works (2)

“Best Practice”“Good Practice”Effective*Assess*“What Works”ImpactSuccess*

Policing

PolicePolicing“Law Enforcement”