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SUMMARY:What counts as evidence? Some reflections on what counts as 'good 
 enough' evidence in public health - Mark Petticrew\, Professor of Public H
 ealth Evaluation\, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
DTSTART:20150213T130000Z
DTEND:20150213T140000Z
UID:TALK53010@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lucy Lloyd
DESCRIPTION:It is often said that in the case of public health evidence 
 ‘the best is the enemy of the good’\, and that perfect evidence is not
  possible to obtain. At the same time\, evidence synthesis methods have ev
 olved considerably to help deal with imperfect evidence\, and modern syste
 matic reviews are increasingly characterised by a willingness to incorpora
 te a wider range of study designs.  With 12 systematic reviews published e
 very day\, we seem to live in a golden age of evidence. And yet… many sy
 stematic reviews\, particularly reviews of complex interventions\, fail to
  convince.  The underwhelming conclusion is often that the evidence is 'we
 ak' or 'mixed'\, or is very context-dependent – that is\, it came from s
 omewhere very different from here (evidential nimbyism?).  Systematic revi
 ews also still struggle to incorporate and integrate different types of ev
 idence – such as different designs\, and in particular evidence from dif
 ferent contexts.  Is this really the best we can do? Are we making best us
 e of the public health evidence we have\, or have we reached 'peak evidenc
 e'? This talk will consider whether we are over-obsessed with the quality 
 of public health evidence\, and will discuss some of the consequences.\n\n
 The seminar will be introduced by Dr David Ogilvie\, Programme Leader at t
 he MRC Epidemiology Unit. 
LOCATION:Large Seminar Room\, 1st Floor\, Institute of Public Health\, Uni
 versity Forvie Site\, Robinson Way\, Cambridge
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