Applied Meta-Analysis for Social Science Research

1. An Introduction to Meta-Analysis

1.1 The Need for Research Synthesis in the Social Sciences

1.2 Basic Terminology

1.3 A Brief History of Meta-Analysis

1.4 The Scientific Process of Research Synthesis

1.5 An Overview of the Book

1.6 Practical Matters: A Note on Software and Information Management

1.7 Summary

1.8 Recommended Readings

2. Questions That Can and Questions That Cannot Be Answered through Meta-Analysis

2.1 Identifying Goals and Research Questions for Meta-Analysis

2.2 The Limits of Primary Research and the Limits of Meta-Analytic Synthesis

2.3 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-Analysis

2.5 Summary

2.6 Recommended Readings

3. Searching the Literature

3.1 Developing and Articulating a Sampling Frame

3.2 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

3.3 Finding Relevant Literature

3.4 Reality Checking: Is My Search Adequate?

3.5 Practical Matters: Beginning a Meta-Analytic Database

3.6 Summary

3.7 Recommended Readings

II. The Building Blocks: Coding Individual Studies

4. Coding Study Characteristics

4.1 Identifying Interesting Moderators

4.2 Coding Study “Quality”

4.3 Evaluating Coding Decisions

4.4 Practical Matters: Creating an Organized Protocol for Coding

4.5 Summary

4.6 Recommended Readings

5. Basic Effect Size Computation

5.1 The Common Metrics: Correlation, Standardized Mean Difference, and Odds Ratio

5.2 Computing r from Commonly Reported Results

5.3 Computing g from Commonly Reported Results

5.4 Computing o from Commonly Reported Results

5.5 Comparisons among r, g, and o

5.6 Practical Matters: Using Effect Size Calculators and Meta-Analysis Programs

5.7 Summary

5.8 Recommended Readings

6. Corrections to Effect Sizes

6.1 The Controversy of Correction

6.2 Artifact Corrections to Consider

6.3 Practical Matters: When (and How) to Correct: Conceptual, Methodological, and Disciplinary Considerations

6.4 Summary

6.5 Recommended Readings

7. Advanced and Unique Effect Size Computation

7.1 Describing Single Variables

7.2 When the Metric Is Meaningful: Raw Difference Scores

7.3 Regression Coefficients and Similar Multivariate Effect Sizes

7.4 Miscellaneous Effect Sizes

7.5 Practical Matters: The Opportunities and Challenges of Meta-Analyzing Unique Effect Sizes

7.6 Summary

7.7 Recommended Readings

III. Putting the Pieces Together: Combining and Comparing Effect Sizes

8. Basic Computations: Computing Mean Effect Size and Heterogeneity around This Mean

8.1 The Logic of Weighting

8.2 Measures of Central Tendency in Effect Sizes

8.3 Inferential Testing and Confidence Intervals of Average Effect Sizes

8.4 Evaluating Heterogeneity among Effect Sizes

8.5 Practical Matters: Nonindependence among Effect Sizes

8.6 Summary

8.7 Recommended Readings

9. Explaining Heterogeneity among Effect Sizes: Moderator Analyses

9.1 Categorical Moderators

9.2 Continuous Moderators

9.3 A General Multiple Regression Framework for Moderation

9.4 An Alternative SEM Approach

9.5 Practical Matters: The Limits of Interpreting Moderators in Meta-Analysis

9.6 Summary

9.7 Recommended Readings

10. Fixed-, Random-, and Mixed-Effects Models

10.1 Differences among Models

10.2 Analyses of Random-Effects Models

10.3 Mixed-Effects Models

10.4 A Structural Equation Modeling Approach to Random- and Mixed-Effects Models

10.5 Practical Matters: Which Model Should I Use?

10.6 Summary

10.7 Recommended Readings

11. Publication Bias

11.1 The Problem of Publication Bias

11.2 Managing Publication Bias

11.3 Practical Matters: What Impact Do Sampling Biases Have on Meta-Analytic Conclusions?

11.4 Summary

11.5 Recommended Readings

12. Multivariate Meta-Analytic Models

12.1 Meta-Analysis to Obtain Sufficient Statistics

12.2 Two Approaches to Multivariate Meta-Analysis

12.3 Practical Matters: The Interplay between Meta-Analytic Models and Theory

12.4 Summary

12.5 Recommended Readings

IV. The Final Product: Reporting Meta-Analytic Results

13. Writing Meta-Analytic Results

13.1 Dimensions of Literature Reviews, Revisited

13.2 What to Report and Where to Report It

13.3 Using Figures and Tables in Reporting Meta-Analyses

13.4 Practical Matters: Avoiding Common Problems in Reporting Results of Meta-Analyses

13.5 Summary

13.6 Recommended Readings

References

Author Index

Subject Index

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