The Development of Practice Guidelines in the Social and Human Sciences

Following a trend observed in evidence-based practice, there has been a significant increase in the number of clinical practice guidelines that have been developed and disseminated in recent years in psychology, social work, and other social sciences. However, the methods used to develop those guidelines were not always optimal. Indeed, the social field often requires that guideline developers consider different types of data and domains. Furthermore, guideline developers in the social sciences are often confronted to the lack of availability of certain types of data. This article draws on the recommendations of a taskforce of the Institut national d'excellence en sante et en services sociaux (INESSS) du Quebec to propose a methodology for guideline development that can be used in the social and human sciences. More specifically, the article presents the different types of data that should be used to inform practice guidelines, as well as strategies for diversifying and triangulating those data. Strategies are also presented to develop and grade recommendations for practice.