Qualitative evidence syntheses often generate theories and explanations for why and how interventions work from the perspectives of those delivering or using the intervention. These videos, originally part of the Qualitative Evidence Synthesis (QES) & Learning Live webinar series, focus on how to understand variation in intervention effects by integrating the findings of a qualitative evidence synthesis with results from intervention evaluations.

The webinar introduced a range of approaches, methods and tools that can be used to achieve this. It began by outlining the types of questions for which diverse evidence from qualitative and quantitative research is needed. It then provided worked examples of approaches, methods and tools illustrating which might work best in different contexts. The session then moved on to discuss how to appraise integration methods and key issues to consider when planning an integration.

The webinar was delivered in May 2022 and below you will find the videos from the webinar, together with accompanying slides to download [PDF].

Part 1: The big picture - why integrate
Part 2: Overview of integration designs, methods and tools, with examples
Part 3: Questions and answers

Presenter Bios

Professor Angela Harden is Professor of Health Sciences at City, University of London. She is a social scientist and currently leads interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaborative research testing interventions tackling the wider determinants of health across the life course. She is interested in the development of both primary and systematic review methods to better develop and evaluate complex interventions and generate evidence for decision-makers. Angela also builds research capacity in applied research through her role as the Academy Director of the NIHR North Thames ARC. She has been a Co-convenor of the Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods group since 2008. 

Professor James Thomas is Professor of Social Research and Policy at the UCL Social Research Institute, based in UCL Institute of Education. He is also Director of the EPPI-Centre's Reviews Facility for the Department of Health, England, which undertakes systematic reviews across a range of policy areas to support the Department. Professor Thomas specialises in developing methods for research synthesis, in particular for qualitative and mixed methods reviews and in using emerging information technologies such as machine learning in research.