Offering pragmatic guidance for planning and conducting a meta-analytic review, this book is written in an engaging, nontechnical style that makes it ideal for graduate course use or self-study. The author shows how to identify questions that can be answered using meta-analysis, retrieve both published and unpublished studies, create a coding manual, use traditional and unique effect size indices, and write a meta-analytic review. An ongoing example illustrates meta-analytic techniques. In addition to the fundamentals, the book discusses more advanced topics, such as artifact correction, random- and mixed-effects models, structural equation representations, and multivariate procedures. User-friendly features include annotated equations; discussions of alternative approaches; and ""Practical Matters"" sections that give advice on topics not often discussed in other books, such as linking meta-analytic results with theory and the utility of meta-analysis software programs.
I. The Blueprint: Planning and Preparing a Meta-Analytic Review1. AN INTRODUCTION TO META-ANALYSIS1.1 The Need for Research Synthesis in the Social Sciences1.2 Basic Terminology1.3 A Brief History of Meta-Analysis1.4 The Scientific Process of Research Synthesis1.5 An Overview of the Book1.6 Practical Matters: A Note on Software and Information Management1.7 Summary1.8 Recommended Readings2. QUESTIONS THAT CAN AND QUESTIONS THAT CANNOT BE ANSWERED THROUGH META-ANALYSIS2.1 Identifying Goals and Research Questions for Meta-Analysis2.2 The Limits of Primary Research and the Limits of Meta-Analytic Synthesis2.3 Critiques of Meta-Analysis: When Are They Valid and When Are They Not?2.4 Practical Matters: The Reciprocal Relation between Planning and Conducting a Meta-Analysis2.5 Summary2.6 Recommended Readings3. SEARCHING THE LITERATURE3.1 Developing and Articulating a Sampling Frame3.2 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria3.3 Finding Relevant Literature3.4 Reality Checking: Is My Search Adequate?3.5 Practical Matters: Beginning a Meta-Analytic Database3.6 Summary3.7 Recommended ReadingsII. The Building Blocks: Coding Individual Studies4. CODING STUDY CHARACTERISTICS4.1 Identifying Interesting Moderators4.2 Coding Study "Quality"4.3 Evaluating Coding Decisions4.4 Practical Matters: Creating an Organized Protocol for Coding4.5 Summary4.6 Recommended Readings5. BASIC EFFECT SIZE COMPUTATION5.1 The Common Metrics: Correlation, Standardized Mean Difference, and Odds Ratio5.2 Computing r from Commonly Reported Results5.3 Computing g from Commonly Reported Results5.4 Computing o from Commonly Reported Results5.5 Comparisons among r, g, and o5.6 Practical Matters: Using Effect Size Calculators and Meta-Analysis Programs5.7 Summary5.8 Recommended Readings6. CORRECTIONS TO EFFECT SIZES6.1 The Controversy of Correction6.2 Artifact Corrections to Consider6.3 Practical Matters: When (and How) to Correct: Conceptual, Methodological, and Disciplinary Considerations6.4 Summary6.5 Recommended Readings7. ADVANCED AND UNIQUE EFFECT SIZE COMPUTATION7.1 Describing Single Variables7.2 When the Metric Is Meaningful: Raw Difference Scores7.3 Regression Coefficients and Similar Multivariate Effect Sizes7.4 Miscellaneous Effect Sizes7.5 Practical Matters: The Opportunities and Challenges of Meta-Analyzing Unique Effect Sizes7.6 Summary7.7 Recommended ReadingsIII. Putting the Pieces Together: Combining and Comparing Effect Sizes8. BASIC COMPUTATIONS: COMPUTING MEAN EFFECT SIZE AND HETEROGENEITY AROUND THIS MEAN8.1 The Logic of Weighting8.2 Measures of Central Tendency in Effect Sizes8.3 Inferential Testing and Confidence Intervals of Average Effect Sizes8.4 Evaluating Heterogeneity among Effect Sizes8.5 Practical Matters: Nonindependence among Effect Sizes8.6 Summary8.7 Recommended Readings9. EXPLAINING HETEROGENEITY AMONG EFFECT SIZES: MODERATOR ANALYSES9.1 Categorical Moderators9.2 Continuous Moderators9.3 A General Multiple Regression Framework for Moderation9.4 An Alternative SEM Approach9.5 Practical Matters: The Limits of Interpreting Moderators in Meta-Analysis9.6 Summary9.7 Recommended Readings10. FIXED-, RANDOM-, AND MIXED-EFFECTS MODELS10.1 Differences among Models10.2 Analyses of Random-Effects Models10.3 Mixed-Effects Models10.4 A Structural Equation Modeling Approach to Random- and Mixed-Effects Models10.5 Practical Matters: Which Model Should I Use?10.6 Summary10.7 Recommended Readings11. PUBLICATION BIAS11.1 The Problem of Publication Bias11.2 Managing Publication Bias11.3 Practical Matters: What Impact Do Sampling Biases Have on Meta-Analytic Conclusions?11.4 Summary11.5 Recommended Readings12. MULTIVARIATE META-ANALYTIC MODELS12.1 Meta-Analysis to Obtain Sufficient Statistics12.2 Two Approaches to Multivariate Meta-Analysis12.3 Practical Matters: The Interplay between Meta-Analytic Models and Theory12.4 Summary12.5 Recommended ReadingsIV. The Final Product: Reporting Meta-Analytic Results13. WRITING META-ANALYTIC RESULTS13.1 Dimensions of Literature Reviews, Revisited13.2 What to Report and Where to Report It13.3 Using Figures and Tables in Reporting Meta-Analyses13.4 Practical Matters: Avoiding Common Problems in Reporting Results of Meta-Analyses13.5 Summary13.6 Recommended Readings
