ABSTRACT
People often find it difficult to understand the real meaning of the terms ‘research’ and ‘evidence-based practice’. This chapter aims to make it possible for anyone to understand what these terms mean and why they are relevant to healthcare. Evidence-based practice is said to exist where there is a clear attempt to base clinical practice upon known evidence. Research evidence is usually the best form of evidence, but sometimes other forms of evidence are used. Research uses a range of techniques to ensure that the resulting data are what they are meant to be and not biased or unreliable. These techniques can look complex at first, but they are not complex. An objective and systemic review of the research literature on a particular topic is called cochrane systematic review. Systematic reviews sometimes include a meta-analysis of the data in the original studies. This is where the data from more than one study is collected together and subjected to statistical analysis.
