Article Text
Abstract
Young drivers continue to be over-represented in road crash fatalities despite a multitude of research, communication and intervention. Evidence-based improvement depends to a great extent upon research methodology quality and its reporting, with known limitations in the peer-review process. The aim of the current research was to review the scope of research methodologies applied in ‘young driver’ and ‘teen driver’ research and their reporting in four peer-review journals in the field between January 2006 and December 2013. In total, 806 articles were identified and assessed. Reporting omissions included participant gender (11% of papers), response rates (49%), retention rates (39%) and information regarding incentives (44%). Greater breadth and specific improvements in study designs and reporting are thereby identified as a means to further advance the field.
- Methodology
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Footnotes
Funding BS-P is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Research Fellowship. TS was supported during this work by a Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Fellowship, the University of New South Wales.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data sharing statement The Excel data file in which each paper is summarised according to the coding categories is available upon request from BS-P.