Theory use in the South African socio-behavioural HIV research literature

The data in these tables were collected through a systematic literature review of the behavioural and social science literature on HIV and AIDS in South Africa. The reviewed literature were all articles from peer-reviewed journal articles, published between 1981 and 2020. 

 
Research theme and intervention strategy codes - this file contains data tables for each of the five overarching research themes that were identified in the literature, namely Prevention, Testing and Treatment, Living with HIV, Care and Support, Impact of HIV and AIDS. Each table lists the sub-themes that are nested within the larger overarching research theme, along with the number and proportional size of each theme and sub-theme.

Theoretical contribution codes: this file contains the data tables of the theoretical contribution assessment that was conducted on articles which demonstrated the use of a theory. A distinction is made between theory testing and theory building. Colquitt and Zapata-Phelan’s (2007) taxonomy of theoretical contribution for empirical articles was slightly attenuated and used to conduct this assessment.

 
Theory visibility codes: this file contains the data tables of the theory visiblity assessment that was conducted on all papers that fit the study's inclusion criteria. A distinction is made in terms of whether theory was used implicitly, explicity or not at all, as well as whether theory was visible consistently throughout the article, or only partially or retrospectively.

 
Theory codes: this file contains the data tables of the examination of theory use in the literature. The most commonly used paradigms are listed first, whereafter the theories that form part of each paradigm are expanded upon in the remaining data tables.