To win a crowd is no art; for that only untruth is needed, nonsense, and a little knowledge of human passions. But no witness to the truth dares to get involved with the crowd.
—Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
✏️ Requiem
The wind rattles the panes of my apartment as I rouse myself from another slumber. My body aches from yesterday’s challenges, but the Lord gives me the strength to fight on another day. I roll to the far side of the bed and take a short glance at my phone. I know I shouldn’t but the notifications are important. At least they feel that way.
It’s an uncharacteristically sunny day in Bordeaux. The brisk air surrounds me as I walk down the wet streets, and for a moment I feel connected with the heavens. Life has been giving me a lot of that recently — tiny moments of insight where I experience the beauty, finitude, and potentiality of life in a split second. Many years of running have reduced the friction between thought and action, and I hurry on my way. One should use moments of peace to build the fort in anticipation of rainier days. One thing I miss about the pandemic is the slowness of life, the constant dialogue with the clouds, and the endless time to read. After a fortunate rejection, I was given the gift of space. Those moments, reading the words of the past and thinking of the foggy future, come back to me as fond memories.
The journey back to the self is unclear to me. I packed my things and left, not looking back. The sun was brighter where I was going. But the self is home, the self is where You and I meet, discussing the latest happenings and dreams of the sky. A permanent relocation is unhealthy. I wish to rebuild that cathedral which for many months brought me an unfathomable peace. Great writers, like Emerson, know the comfort of such a place. Most go living their lives without ever so much as daring to knock on the door. It is in there, though, that the hotline to connection, forgiveness, intimacy and grace is found.
Art has a way of speaking to the heart in an indescribable way. The requiem felt like it was written by my soul. Perhaps it was — perhaps it comes from the same source as his. I would like to believe so.
Semper Fidelis.
💡 Food for Thought
The truth has consequences.
🧬 Paper of the Week — RAMESES publication standards: realist syntheses
Citation: Wong, G., Greenhalgh, T., Westhorp, G., Buckingham, J., & Pawson, R. (2013). RAMESES publication standards: realist syntheses. BMC medicine, 11(1), 1-14.
Background
There is growing interest in realist synthesis as an alternative systematic review method. This approach offers the potential to expand the knowledge base in policy-relevant areas -for example, by explaining the success, failure or mixed fortunes of complex interventions. No previous publication standards exist for reporting realist syntheses. This standard was developed as part of the RAMESES (Realist And MEta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards) project. The project's aim is to produce preliminary publication standards for realist systematic reviews.
Methods
We (a) collated and summarized existing literature on the principles of good practice in realist syntheses; (b) considered the extent to which these principles had been followed by published syntheses, thereby identifying how rigor may be lost and how existing methods could be improved; (c) used a three-round online Delphi method with an interdisciplinary panel of national and international experts in evidence synthesis, realist research, policy and/or publishing to produce and iteratively refine a draft set of methodological steps and publication standards; (d) provided real-time support to ongoing realist syntheses and the open-access RAMESES online discussion list so as to capture problems and questions as they arose; and (e) synthesized expert input, evidence syntheses and real-time problem analysis into a definitive set of standards.
Results
We identified 35 published realist syntheses, provided real-time support to 9 ongoing syntheses and captured questions raised in the RAMESES discussion list. Through analysis and discussion within the project team, we summarized the published literature and common questions and challenges into briefing materials for the Delphi panel, comprising 37 members. Within three rounds this panel had reached a consensus on 19 key publication standards, with an overall response rate of 91%.
Conclusion
This project used multiple sources to develop and draw together evidence and expertise in realist synthesis. For each item, we have included an explanation for why it is important and guidance on how it might be reported. Realist synthesis is a relatively new method for evidence synthesis and as experience and methodological developments occur, we anticipate that these standards will evolve to reflect further methodological developments. We hope that these standards will act as a resource that will contribute to improving the reporting of realist syntheses.
Everything is magical when you see it with your heart.
—Mooji (1954-)
À bientot!
AT