Discussion question-Topic 3 -What levels of evidence are present in relation to research and practice, and why are they important regardless of the method you use?
Discussion question-Topic 3 -What levels of evidence are present in relation to research and practice, and why are they important regardless of the method you use?
TOPIC 3 DQ 1
What levels of evidence are present in relation to research and practice, and why are they important regardless of the method you use?
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Solution
What levels of evidence are present in relation to research and practice, and why are they important regardless of the method you use?
Levels of evidence also known as the hierarchy of evidence are used to classify research designs depending on the internal validity of the study. The hierarchy of evidence present in research and practice includes level 1, which includes evidence obtained from meta-analysis or systematic studies where researchers search and appraise medical research from good quality RCTs, this is the highest hierarchy available, Level II comprises evidence that is obtained from RCTs. In level III, the evidence is acquired from controlled trials that lack randomization. Level IV the evidence is acquired studies such as cohort or case-control studies. Level V comprises of evidence that is obtained from systematic reviews of any qualitative studies, level VI includes that obtained from a descriptive or qualitative study while Level VII comprises evidence acquired through opinions of experts in a specific field or reports from expert committees, (Ebling Library, 2021).
Different types of research and clinical questions require different study designs to answer them best, and meta-analysis and systematic reviews may not always be the best to use or find evidence-based information from, hence an individual should consider the highest available level of evidence depending on their research or clinical question. In practice the levels of evidence are important for decision making when considering implementation of certain recommendations and are also important components of evidence-based practice, for example, a better and effective recommendation can be given when there exists level 1 evidence, which is that is supported by evidence from Level II, III and IV. In research, the levels of evidence are important as they guide researchers to determine the levels of evidence they should rely on when investigating a specific topic, (Saeed et al., 2018).
References
Ebling Library, (2021) Nursing Resources: Levels of Evidence (I-VII) Retrieved from: https://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/c.php?g=861013&p=6170092
Saeed, M., Swaroop, M., Ackerman, D., Tarone, D., Rowbotham, J., & Stawicki, S. P. (2018). Fact versus conjecture: Exploring levels of evidence in the context of patient safety and care quality. In Vignettes in Patient Safety-Volume 3. IntechOpen.
