Literature Reviews and Systematic Reviews are very similar and often student researchers tend to confuse the two. Both are used to provide a summary of literature on a specific topic however both reviews have distinct differences. Below is a chart outlining differences to assist students in identifying literature reviews and systematic reviews.
What's in a name? The difference between a Systematic Review and a Literature Review, and why it matters by Lynn Kysh, MLIS, University of Southern California - Norris Medical Library
Deals with data that is numerical or that can be converted into numbers. The basic methods used to investigate numerical data are called ‘statistics’. Statistical techniques are concerned with the organisation, analysis, interpretation and presentation of numerical data (Sheard, 2018).
Qualitative research is an approach to research that is primarily concerned with studying the nature, quality, and meaning of human experience. It asks questions about how people make sense of their experiences, how people talk about what has happened to them and others, and how people experience, manage, and negotiate situations they find themselves in (Credo Reference).
Inferential Statistics use research, observations, and data about a sample to draw conclusions about a population.
Case Report - a write up of the case of an individual patient; a clinical presentation. Often the first report of a new disease or disease trend.
Case Series - a write up of the cases of several patients all undergoing similar treatment.
Case-Control Study - a comparison of study subjects with a particular disease/risk factor (cases) to those without (controls). These have also been called retrospective studies. A good design for rare diseases but easy to get poor data.
Clinical Trial - an experimental study in which subjects receive an intervention. Preferably subjects are assigned to either treatment or no treatment/placebo (see Controlled Clinical Trial). Some trials compare multiple treatments, e.g. the subjects could be assigned to: Treatment A, Treatment B, No treatment/placebo. The different groups are called arms. This is the best study design for testing effect of interventions.
Cohort Study - a group of subjects followed through time. Cohort studies can be used to track effect of an exposure, e.g. all subjects had been exposed to lead in their housing, or they can track a cohort not exposed. They have also been called prospective studies. This is a strong design for determining risk and incidence.
Controlled Clinical Trial - a Clinical Trial where there is a control group receiving a comparison treatment or no treatment/placebo.
Cross Sectional Study - a descriptive study that documents the number of people with a particular disease or risk factor.