Introduction to Meta-Analysis

by Michael Borenstein, Larry V. Hedges, Julian P.T. Higgins

This book provides a clear and thorough introduction to meta-analysis, the process of synthesizing data from a series of separate studies. Meta-analysis has become a critically important tool in fields as diverse as medicine, pharmacology, epidemiology, e

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Research

452 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 14, 2009

Reviews

[Leanna Aker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very technical manual on conducting a meta-analysis. This book has me quaking in my boots, but I feel it is a thorough reference that will become dog-eared as I progress through my dissertation. :-)

[Jacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing example of how a book on applied statistics can be written - hands-on, keeping the math 'formal enough', full of actually useful examples.

[Robert Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty much just what it says on the cover: an introduction to the mathematical or statistical techniques used to combine research results from disparate studies using meta-analysis. I particularly appreciate the level of detail the book provides. Each technique is fully explained and the book contains several worked examples walking the reader through the entire process of performing a meta-analysis. Readers looking for a book specifically on applied statistics will find it useful because it skips right to the applications rather than getting bogged down in proofs and theory (personally, I wouldn’t have minded some more theory, but that’s not the point of this sort of a book, so the authors actually did the right thing overall).

The one place I do think they should have spend some more time is on the design of meta-analytic studies themselves. Obviously this is not a book on research design, but it would have been useful had the authors devoted at least a chapter to the considerations one should keep in mind when choosing which studies to include or exclude and how to weight them. As it stands, readers who are as new to meta-analysis as to most benefit from this sort of introductory work will likely need to pick up at least one other book to fill in some of those gaps.

There is a chapter near the back that deals with some of the more philosophical considerations and addresses some of the common objections to meta-analysis. That’s quite useful, but probably would have been better placed near the front of the book so the reader could develop a more robust conceptual understanding of the subject before diving right in to all the formulae.

On the whole, I found it quite useful, but will likely need to supplement it with additional reading before I can actually make use of it.

[Khanh Duong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a systematical way about meta-analysis, covering both basic concepts and advanced issues. Not focus on mathematics in detail but try to convey the main ideas and theories,the readers will not get lost in so many equations in meta-analysis. Postgraduates and researchers in health fields are suitable readers for it. The references provided in this book are also plus points. I read it as studying a meta-analysis course and conducting research on meta-analysis in my master's program.

[Rachel Renbarger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple language but it doesn't go as complex as some of us with stupid projects need

[Tatiana Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

PERFECT FOR YOUR FIRST MA PROJECT!!!!