Does DFID embrace/promote certain systematic review methods and approaches only?
No. DFID takes a broad perspective on systematic reviews not limited to quantitative approaches that includes qualitative and quantitative reviews of complex interventions (realist reviews). In practice this means: (1) setting the outcome review in the broader context of the underlying program theory, reporting evidence on all assumptions and links in the causal chain, not only outcomes, including qualitative evidence if applicable; (2) for quantitative reviews, examining the variation in reported outcomes, not only their mean; (3) for qualitative or mixed-method reviews, using an accepted method of qualitative data synthesis.
