Designing a search strategy to identify and retrieve articles onevidence-based health care using MEDLINE

Thepractice of evidence-based health care requires that information on methodology be identifiedfrom databases such as MEDLINE. Up until this year there have been no designated medicalsubject headings (MeSH) for evidence-based health care. ‘EVIDENCE-BASEDMEDICINE’ appears as a MeSH term from 1997. The absence of designated MeSH forthis concept prior to 1997 provides a challenge to the searcher. This paper describes the creationof a MEDLINE search strategy to retrieve articles on the methods of evidence-based health carepublished prior to the introduction of the new term, where an optimal combination of free-textand MeSH terms is required to identify relevant material. The study examines both free-text andsubject heading searching and attempts an optimal balance of sensitivity and specificity. It beginsby examining separate free-text and subject heading searches. Sensitivity of the subject headingsearch was 33% and specificity 80%, while the free-text search produced asensitivity of 50% and a specificity of 67%. The final strategy, combining bothapproaches, was more successful with sensitivity reaching between 82 and 90% andspecificity 83%. It is therefore possible to devise a search strategy to retrieve articles on themethods of evidence-based health care with relatively successful rates of sensitivity andspecificity. The limitations of MEDLINE, however, necessitate the use of additional approachesin identifying articles on the methods of evidence-based health care.     

National Testing or Political Testing: I s There a Difference?

Are two national reports on standardized testing realistic or simplistic? What is the difference between “political” testing and conventional testing? What are some likely consequences of politicizing school testing?     

Efficiency and Inefficiency in the Ranking in Competitions: the Case of the Queen Elisabeth Music Contest

The Queen Elisabeth Contest is one of the most prestigious competitions in classical music. For both the artists who participate and for the public, it is important that the ranking of the finalists be affected as little as possible by exogenous factors relating to the organisation of the competition. Still, it is impossible to control for all contingencies. Thus, the ranking can be expected to deviate from that obtained in a hypothetical full-information assessment process. As such, the ranking may be unfair to the candidates and inefficient in providing information to the consumer. Deviations from the full-information ideal may result from self-selection of candidates, from positive information at the margin, and from differences in circumstances. Analysing data on all piano and violin versions of the Contest over the period 1956–1999, we find strong evidence of biases in the rankingprocess. Confirming previous research, we find that musicians who perform later in the final week or later on a given day in this week (on average) obtain a better classification. Further, in the piano competitions women obtain lower rankings and, prior to 1990, finalists from the Soviet Union obtained higherrankings than average. The jury appreciates innovation in the sense that musicians who perform a more recently composed concerto obtain a higher rank. Finally – especiallyfor violin – the candidate's decision to perform a popular concerto leadsto a lower ranking.     

Teamwork and change

相似文献