Training

Assessing methodological strengths and limitations of qualitative research using the CAMELOT approach (ONLINE)

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Date: 3rd September 2026

Time: 10.00 – 14.00

Skill level: Introductory

Target audience: Qualitative researchers conducting QES or anybody wanting to learn how to critically appraise qualitative research

Prerequisites: Basic understanding of qualitative research. Advantageous with knowledge and experience with conducting/using Qualitative Evidence Synthesis

Registration fee: General admission – €50; Student – €25

This half-day online workshop introduces the CAMELOT approach to assessing the methodological strengths and limitations of qualitative research. Facilitated by Dr Heather Munthe-Kaas, the session combines short presentations with individual and group exercises in Zoom breakout rooms.

Background

Dr Heather Munthe-Kaas will facilitate an introductory webinar on the CAMELOT approach to assessing methodological strengths and limitations of qualitative research. The session will provide an overview of the key domains that underpin the framework. Participants will be guided through how these domains are applied in practice.

Aim

To facilitate more thoughtful consideration of the methodological strengths and limitations of qualitative research.

Objectives

To build a clear understanding of the CAMELOT approach and support its use in evidence synthesis.

Learning outcomes

In this course participants will be enabled to:

• Understand the principles of the CAMELOT approach
• Understand the use of the CAMELOT approach in Qualitative Evidence Synthesis
• Apply CAMELOT
• Critically appraise qualitative research

Teaching strategies

The workshop will consist of a mixture of short presentations and individual or group work exercises using Zoom breakout rooms. The domains of the CAMELOT approach will be explored through presentations and discussions followed by practical exercise to apply CAMELOT.

Facilitator

Dr Heather Munthe-Kaas

Researcher, Centre for Epidemic Intervention Research, Norwegian Institute of Public Health

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This webinar will:

• Describe what living evidence is and why living evidence is important
• Explain why living approaches are not sufficient to meet our evidence needs
• Give examples of innovations in research that are needed if evidence is going to be useful and used

Speaker:

Professor Tari Turner is Director of the Australian Living Evidence Collaboration and Professor (Research) at Cochrane Australia. Prof. Turner leads research developing and evaluating innovative methods for evidence synthesis, including living systematic reviews and living guidelines & novel methods for assessment of pre-clinical evidence in vaccine development. Tari’s passion is supporting evidence-based decision-making to ensure the best possible outcomes, particularly for women and children in low resource settings. She enjoys designing, finding, synthesising and communicating research, and she loves seeing research actually make a difference. Tari is an Editor of the Cochrane Library and Cochrane Evidence Synthesis and Methods, a member of the European CDC Methodological Advisory Group and Chair of the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood Ethics Committee. During the pandemic period, Tari led the Australian National Clinical Evidence Taskforce which developed ultra-rapid living guidelines for care of people with COVID-19 that were updated more than 130 times.

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Date: 5th October 2026

Time: 09:30 – 15:30

Location: The Pavilion, University of Limerick

Workshop details

In this workshop Professor Pauline Meskell and Dr. Linda Biesty will introduce participants to the GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative Research) approach to assess confidence in the findings from reviews of qualitative research. Using interactive group exercises and illustrative case study examples, they will work through each component of the GRADE-CERQual approach. With dedicated time for troubleshooting and discussions this workshop is designed for those new to GRADE-CERQual as well as those with some prior knowledge who are looking to strengthen their skills though practical application.

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Speaker:

Prof. James Thomas is based at the EPPI Centre and his research is centred on improving policy and decision-making through more creative use and appreciation of existing knowledge. It covers substantive disciplinary fields – such as health promotion, public health and education – and also the development of tools and methods that support this work conducted both within UCL and in the wider community. He has written extensively on research synthesis, including meta-analysis.

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This workshop will be held over four mornings and provides authors, at the beginning of the systematic review process, with a clear understanding of how systematic reviews of the effects of interventions are planned and conducted. It offers an insight into the development of a protocol, introducing participants to methodology, search methods, data extraction, risk of bias assessment and meta-analysis. While the focus is on systematic reviews of the effects of interventions, the principles discussed are likely to be useful to inform steps and approaches in other types of reviews.

Date: 5th, 6th, 12th & 13th November 2026

Time: 10.00am – 1.00pm

Places: 25 available for individuals who are resident on the island of Ireland

Fee: General €150; Student €80

Skill level: Introductory

Target Audience: Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, policy makers and other decision makers, and Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellows who have identified a systematic review of effects of interventions topic and are ready to begin working on their protocol.

Prerequisites: A basic knowledge of health research. Interested in learning more on the methods of a systematic review of effects of interventions.

Teaching strategies: The workshop will consist of a mixture of short presentations led by members of the Evidence Synthesis Ireland and Cochrane Ireland teaching faculty, covering each of the stages of developing a systematic review protocol, small group activities and plenary discussions, providing participants with the opportunity to develop and refine their protocol. Although focusing on systematic reviews of the effects of interventions, the principles are likely to apply to other review types. This course will include blended learning with two months free access to Cochrane Interactive Learning self-directed learning modules, a number of which will be required study prior to the workshop.

Facilitators

Ciara Gleeson, Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist, Respiratory Assessment Unit, St. James’s Hospital, Dublin

Dr KM Saif-Ur-Rahman, Evidence Synthesis Methods Lead, Evidence Synthesis Ireland & Senior Research Fellow, University of Galway

Dr Elayne Ahern, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Limerick

*If your type of ticket is sold out, please join the waitlist or contact us at esi@universityofgalway.ie

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Health care policy and practice decisions should be based on a synthesis of the global body of evidence rather than relying on individual studies. Cochrane Ireland and Evidence Synthesis Ireland promote evidence based healthcare policy and practice by supporting high quality, relevant systematic reviews and other synthesised research evidence. This workshop provides authors, actively involved in conducting a systematic review, with confidence to assess a wide range of data types. It offers an insight into more complex methods of meta-analysis.

Date: 26th & 27th November and 3rd & 4th December 2027

Time: 10.00 am – 1.00 pm

Places: 20 places available for individuals who are resident on the island of Ireland

Fee: €150 General & €80 Student

Target audience

Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, decision makers and Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellows who are actively involved in performing a systematic review.

Prerequisites

Participants should at least have completed their review protocol, developed and conducted their search strategy and begun data extraction and analysis.

Learning outcomes

In this course participants will be enabled to:

• Understand how to identify, extract and analyse dichotomous and continuous data
• Understand more complex meta-analysis methods including use of Generic Inverse Variance Meta-analysis
• Understand principles of analysis of multi-arm trials, cluster and cross-over trial designs

Teaching strategies

This course consists of online workshops with of a mixture of short presentations, small group activities and practical demonstrations using Cochrane software (RevMan Web). In addition, participants will have access to Cochrane Interactive Learning modules and will be required to complete a set of modules prior to workshops. Access to the Cochrane Interactive Learning modules will be made available for 4 weeks before and 4 weeks after the workshop and will be free of charge thanks to the support of Cochrane Training.

Facilitators

Prof. Valerie Smith, Professor of Midwifery, University College Dublin

Dr Kerry Dwan, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York

*If your type of ticket is sold out, please join the waitlist or contact us at esi@universityofgalway.ie

To register, click here

This is an introductory webinar to the Qualitative Evidence Synthesis (QES) methodology of Meta-ethnography. Meta-ethnography is an interpretive approach to QES and, unlike a standard systematic review that might aggregate data, meta-ethnography seeks to “translate” findings across studies to produce a new, higher-order understanding of a phenomenon. The webinar will begin by briefly exploring the role, purpose and development of QES, before moving onto examining what meta-ethnography is, the kind of questions it can answer and the processes associated with it. Drawing on work from a key public health issue -smoking in pregnancy – the webinar will demonstrate how meta-ethnography was able to unpick real-world complexity, providing richer, more actionable insights for health care decision-makers.

Speaker:

Prof. Kate Flemming is an experienced academic in nursing and palliative care and is Head of Department for the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York. Kate’s research focuses on evaluating patient and carer experience of palliative care. A key area is around equity of access to palliative care services, in particular people who are homeless or vulnerably housed. This work is closely integrated with her methodological expertise in qualitative evidence synthesis; she is a co-convenor of the Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group.

To register, click here

Health care policy and practice decisions should be based on a synthesis of the global body of evidence rather than relying on individual studies. Cochrane Ireland and Evidence Synthesis Ireland promote evidence based healthcare policy and practice by supporting high quality, relevant systematic reviews and other synthesised research evidence. This workshop provides authors, actively involved in conducting a systematic review, with confidence to assess a wide range of data types. It offers an insight into more complex methods of meta-analysis.

Date: 26th & 27th November and 3rd & 4th December 2027

Time: 10.00 am – 1.00 pm

Places: 20 places available for individuals who are resident on the island of Ireland

Fee: €150 General & €80 Student

Target audience

Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, decision makers and Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellows who are actively involved in performing a systematic review.

Prerequisites

Participants should at least have completed their review protocol, developed and conducted their search strategy and begun data extraction and analysis.

Learning outcomes

In this course participants will be enabled to:

• Understand how to identify, extract and analyse dichotomous and continuous data
• Understand more complex meta-analysis methods including use of Generic Inverse Variance Meta-analysis
• Understand principles of analysis of multi-arm trials, cluster and cross-over trial designs

Teaching strategies

This course consists of online workshops with of a mixture of short presentations, small group activities and practical demonstrations using Cochrane software (RevMan Web). In addition, participants will have access to Cochrane Interactive Learning modules and will be required to complete a set of modules prior to workshops. Access to the Cochrane Interactive Learning modules will be made available for 4 weeks before and 4 weeks after the workshop and will be free of charge thanks to the support of Cochrane Training.

Facilitators

Prof. Valerie Smith, Professor of Midwifery, University College Dublin

Dr Kerry Dwan, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York

*If your type of ticket is sold out, please join the waitlist or contact us at esi@universityofgalway.ie

To register, click here

Speaker:

Prof. Alex Todhunter-Brown is Professor of Evidence Synthesis within the Research Centre for Health (ReaCH), School of Health and Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University. Alex is internationally recognised for her conduct and methodological development of evidence syntheses across a diverse range of health and social care topics, including stroke.  She is a key international leader in methods of involving patients and the public within evidence syntheses. Alex has over 110 publications, an h-index (Scopus) of 47, and is cited as being in the top 2% of scientists in her discipline.   Alex is currently a member of the Chief Scientist Office Health Improvement, Protection and Services Research Committee.

To register, click here

This webinar will provide attendees with a brief introduction to realist reviews (also known as realist syntheses). During the webinar we will cover what a realist review is and when it might be useful. Importantly, the webinar will cover the underpinning realist ontology that realist reviews are based on. It will also explain the concepts of generative causation, mechanisms, contexts, outcomes, programme theory and middle-range theories – understanding these being essential for any budding realist reviewer. The slides from the webinar will be made available later, and contain examples of realist reviews and further reading for those who wish to learn more about realist reviews.

Speaker:

Geoff Wong is Professor of Primary Care in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford. He is an internationally and nationally recognised expert in realist review and evaluation. He has extensive expertise in conducting and providing methodological support for both approaches as well in their methodological development. He led the two UK National Institute of Health Research funded projects that developed quality and reporting standards, and training materials for realist reviews and realist evaluations (www.ramesesproject.org). He works part time as a GP in the NHS in London.