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Table 4 Actual/possible limitations & error sources

From: Did we describe what you meant? Findings and methodological discussion of an empirical validation study for a systematic review of reasons

Very low response rate due to …

… amount of time needed to answer questionnaire

… misunderstandings of the purpose of the survey

… possible incomprehensibility or complexity of the questionnaires

… time passed between publication and survey

… the changing of the position of the author(s) towards PTA

… author(s) do not understand the methodological relevance of SRRs

… authors explicitly rejecting approach of SRR

Coding validation errors/hindrances on behalf of the reviewer(s), due to …

… potential interpretation errors (coder misunderstood content of read paper)

… potential subsumption errors (coder subsumed a reason mention under wrong code)

… potential transcription errors (coding wrongly transcribed from data base)

Coding validation errors/hindrances on behalf of the author(s)/participant(s), due to …

… carelessness when answering the survey

… misunderstandings concerning the coding system

… not having (re-)read the paper, and not having re-familiarised oneself with what the paper actually say

Coding validation errors/hindrances on behalf of the reviewer(s) and the author(s)/ participant(s), due to …

… potential differences in the way a reason is coded by reviewers and by authors

… different understanding of the reason (and its implication relevant for coding)