Air quality: key behaviours report

10 Appendix A: Literature review methodology

10.1 Identification of relevant literature

Literature searching was conducted in two phases:

Phase 1: Broad search to identify relevant behaviours and their impacts

Academic literature

In order to get a broad view of the academic literature on air quality related behaviours, we conducted searches on the Web of Science database. The search terms used in this initial search are noted in the table below. The search was confined to English language papers. The search results were screened by one of the team (JC) for relevance. Sources taken forward for review were classified as high, medium or low priority. Review papers of relevance were given high priority for reviewing. Relevant data was extracted in note form by two members of the team (JC and KC).

Grey literature

Grey literature was searched using Google's site search function, which allows Boolean searching of webpages. Searches were performed (by PS) for the websites of the key organisations listed below, using combinations of the same keywords used in the search terms listed above. Search results were screened for inclusion – only research reports or data reports relevant to behaviours impacting on air quality were included. Other website material (e.g. news stories, policy documents) was excluded.

Table A.2: Key organisational websites searched for grey literature reports

• The Scottish Government
• Scottish Environmental Protection Agency
• Scottishairquality.scot
• Friends of the Earth
• Cycle in Scotland
• Living Streets
• DEFRA
• Gov.uk
• European Environment Agency
• British Heart Foundation
• Asthma + Lung UK
• Air Quality Expert Group (DEFRA)
• Local Authorities

Additional sources

In addition to the sources identified through the searches of academic and grey literature, other relevant material was included based on our knowledge of literature from previous projects carried out by ourselves and other Hutton colleagues, and 'snowballing' (identification of relevant material from reference lists of reviewed papers).

Phase 2: Behaviour-specific searches

Having completed the broad searches to identify the relevant behaviours, ad hoc searching was done using Web of Science and Google Scholar to provide more information about the specific behaviours identified (e.g. on active travel, domestic burning etc.). The purpose of these additional searches was to address gaps in evidence from the broad searching and gather evidence specifically on the factors influencing uptake of behaviours (which was only partially captured in the previous searches that excluded sources that did not focus on air quality specifically).

10.2 Limitations of the approach

Due to time and budget constraints, it was not possible to employ a more systematic review method incorporating structured screening and data extraction. This means that although we have aimed to provide as comprehensive as possible an overview of the relevant literature and transparency about the search strategy adopted, the review methodology was not standardised or replicable.