CQRMG AGM SPAIN, MADRID
Welcome
Jane Noyes opened and welcomed all attendees.
Attendees
Craig Lockwood, Jane Noyes, Andrew Booth, Margaret Cargo, Janet Harris, Yvonne, Roland Buchter, Farah Jamal, Sacha Powell, Hilary Thansa, Nadine Jaeqmin, Rebecca Armstrong.
Apologies
Angela Harden, Esther Coren
Minutes of the previous meeting
Minutes were reviewed, no business arising was noted for discussion
Core and elective functions
The core and elective functions of the CQRMG were discussed and ratified as including:
To provide methodological advice to Cochrane Review Groups seeking to incorporate qualitative evidence in their Cochrane registered reviews.
To provide training in methods of qualitative synthesis for all interested persons. It was noted that
Janet Harris offers X2 training sessions per year, with ongoing requests for further training where the capacity has not been met
The dates and details for training opportunities are posted on the CQRMG website (http://cqrmg.cochrane.org/training-events)
For 2012 ESQUIRE Sept for training in Sheffield and June in Belgium.
Contribute to the Cochrane methodology register
Following extensive consultations, there has been in principal agreement from the Cochrane editorial team to include qualitative synthesis methods papers in the methodology register. The link to the methodology register will be circulated, papers of interest are actively identified, the citations retrieved, and stored before uploading and this process is managed by Andrew Booth. Further to this, a discussion email list (ASQUS) is now well established and is used to facilitate communication as well as announce when new or significant methodology papers have been published.
Measures of activity or impact
As Cochrane continues to review and refine its operational standards and expectations, further emphasis is being placed on the role of measuring, monitoring and reporting on activity and impact. Each methods group is required to define the nature and level of activity it will undertake, including creating an associate membership with active roles, and allowing those who want to be informed rather than participatory.
While difficult to define activity one approach to determining what constitutes activity is that it results in a contribution to the CQRMG.
Activities that the Convenors are involved in, and members are invited to participate in include:
mentoring or shadowing with a convenor to review new protocols as a learning process
participating in general discussion about activity and experience via email, the CQRMG website or the ASQUS discussion forum.
Methods board meeting
The Methods Board Meeting was held in Madrid during the convention. At the methods board meeting, the CQRMG draft chapters were given in-principal endorsement; it was confirmed that they had been uploaded to the CQRMG website and, members of the methods board were given a further 3 weeks in order to review the draft chapters. Subsequent to this, the chapters have been given formal endorsement.
A number of protocols and reviews that include qualitative synthesis are now published in the Cochrane Library.
Concurrently with the Madrid colloquium, there was a workshop related to how review manager can be used and potentially modified to fit qualitative evidence. Further networking with the Public Health Group regarding the review manager wish list will be undertaken by an interest group that includes the CQRMG
Andrew Booth reported on a book to be published in 2013 on standards for reporting and quality criteria for including studies (EQUATOR).
Karin Hannes and Craig Lockwood book Synthesising Qualitative Research: Choosing the Right Approach was published by BMJ publishers, with copy available from late 2011.
There was some open discussion of relevant posters at the convention.
It was reported that the new website is now live, URL cqrmg.cochrane.org
A funding bid for complex interventions on synthesis of qualitative and quantitative data was reported on. The bid Includes the following Cochrane Methods Groups: public health, equity, epoc, CQRMG and, statistics. The bid has been approved by the methods executive and is now going to the Cochrane steering Group.
If successful, it is anticipated that the bid will lead to a new chapter in the Cochrane handbook on complex interventions.
6. engaging with membership
There was extensive open discussion on promoting active members within the CQRMG membership. Suggestions from those present included:
· promoting access to the register
· collating a list of members expertise and interests
· convenors list of who and what interest are
· undertaking a new members survey in January 2012.
· A priority list of areas that members could consider.
· Consider an annual closed meeting for feedback on the shadowing and capacity building, and mechanisms for sharing all that learning across groups.
· Opportunity for a qualitative editor to check or comment on reviews
7. on call rota of convenors
For 2011 an oncall system was used to share some inquiries across the cqrmg convenorship, and has been updated for 2012 via a single email address and will be posted on website for the on-call system.
Any other business
In order to support review groups making inquiries, consideration was given to:
· Posting a list of key references on the CQRMG website as first port of call for information.
· Developing a list of frequently asked questions that will be posted on the cqrmg website as a reference document.
The Meeting was closed at 9am.