ACROSS FAMILIES/ Review & synthesis
Narrative review
Build a reasoned account of a literature
A narrative review develops a critical argument across existing scholarship. It may integrate concepts, histories and contradictory findings without statistical pooling. Its scope and selection process should be explained even when searches are iterative. It differs from narrative synthesis within a systematic review, which remains governed by that review's explicit eligibility and search procedures.
WHEN IT FITS
Use when the question concerns conceptual development or how a field understands a problem, and you can access a sufficiently broad, contrasting body of relevant scholarship.
Strengths
- Integrates conceptual and methodological diversity
- Supports theory development across fragmented debates
Limitations
- Selective citation can make an argument appear stronger than it is
- Unreported searches are difficult to reproduce
Know the boundary
A persuasive narrative is not evidence that every relevant study has been located.
USED ACROSS
Banking & financeBusiness & MBAPsychologyComputer scienceEducation