Statistical Meta Analysis With Applications

An accessible introduction to performing meta-analysis across various areas of research The practice of meta-analysis allows researchers to obtain findings from various studies and compile them to verify and form one overall conclusion. Statistical Meta-Analysis with Applications presents the necessary statistical methodologies that allow readers to tackle the four main stages of meta-analysis: problem formulation, data collection, data evaluation, and data analysis and interpretation. Combining the authors' expertise on the topic with a wealth of up-to-date information, this book successfully introduces the essential statistical practices for making thorough and accurate discoveries across a wide array of diverse fields, such as business, public health, biostatistics, and environmental studies. Two main types of statistical analysis serve as the foundation of the methods and techniques: combining tests of effect size and combining estimates of effect size. Additional topics covered include: Meta-analysis regression procedures Multiple-endpoint and multiple-treatment studies The Bayesian approach to meta-analysis Publication bias Vote counting procedures Methods for combining individual tests and combining individual estimates Using meta-analysis to analyze binary and ordinal categorical data Numerous worked-out examples in each chapter provide the reader with a step-by-step understanding of the presented methods. All exercises can be computed using the R and SAS software packages, which are both available via the book's related Web site. Extensive references are also included, outlining additional sources for further study. Requiring only a working knowledge of statistics, Statistical Meta-Analysis with Applications is a valuable supplement for courses in biostatistics, business, public health, and social research at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also an excellent reference for applied statisticians working in industry, academia, and government.

Review of the First Edition: The authors strive to reduce theory to a minimum, which makes it a self-learning text that is comprehensible for biologists, physicians, etc. who lack an advanced mathematics background. Unlike in many other textbooks, R is not introduced with meaningless toy examples; instead the reader is taken by the hand and shown around some analyses, graphics, and simulations directly relating to meta-analysis... A useful hands-on guide for practitioners who want to familiarize themselves with the fundamentals of meta-analysis and get started without having to plough through theorems and proofs. —Journal of Applied Statistics Statistical Meta-Analysis with R and Stata, Second Edition provides a thorough presentation of statistical meta-analyses (MA) with step-by-step implementations using R/Stata. The authors develop analysis step by step using appropriate R/Stata functions, which enables readers to gain an understanding of meta-analysis methods and R/Stata implementation so that they can use these two popular software packages to analyze their own meta-data. Each chapter gives examples of real studies compiled from the literature. After presenting the data and necessary background for understanding the applications, various methods for analyzing meta-data are introduced. The authors then develop analysis code using the appropriate R/Stata packages and functions. What’s New in the Second Edition: Adds Stata programs along with the R programs for meta-analysis Updates all the statistical meta-analyses with R/Stata programs Covers fixed-effects and random-effects MA, meta-regression, MA with rare-event, and MA-IPD vs MA-SS Adds five new chapters on multivariate MA, publication bias, missing data in MA, MA in evaluating diagnostic accuracy, and network MA Suitable as a graduate-level text for a meta-data analysis course, the book is also a valuable reference for practitioners and biostatisticians (even those with little or no experience in using R or Stata) in public health, medical research, governmental agencies, and the pharmaceutical industry.

1. Provides a comprehensive overview of meta-analysis methods and applications. 2. Divided into four major sub-topics, covering univariate meta-analysis, multivariate, applications and policy. 3. Designed to be suitable for graduate students and researchers new to the field. 4. Includes lots of real examples, with data and software code made available. 5. Chapters written by the leading researchers in the field.

Doing Meta-Analysis with R: A Hands-On Guide serves as an accessible introduction on how meta-analyses can be conducted in R. Essential steps for meta-analysis are covered, including calculation and pooling of outcome measures, forest plots, heterogeneity diagnostics, subgroup analyses, meta-regression, methods to control for publication bias, risk of bias assessments and plotting tools. Advanced but highly relevant topics such as network meta-analysis, multi-three-level meta-analyses, Bayesian meta-analysis approaches and SEM meta-analysis are also covered. A companion R package, dmetar, is introduced at the beginning of the guide. It contains data sets and several helper functions for the meta and metafor package used in the guide. The programming and statistical background covered in the book are kept at a non-expert level, making the book widely accessible. Features • Contains two introductory chapters on how to set up an R environment and do basic imports/manipulations of meta-analysis data, including exercises • Describes statistical concepts clearly and concisely before applying them in R • Includes step-by-step guidance through the coding required to perform meta-analyses, and a companion R package for the book

Meta Analysis: A Guide to Calibrating and Combining Statistical Evidence acts as a source of basic methods for scientists wanting to combine evidence from different experiments. The authors aim to promote a deeper understanding of the notion of statistical evidence. The book is comprised of two parts – The Handbook, and The Theory. The Handbook is a guide for combining and interpreting experimental evidence to solve standard statistical problems. This section allows someone with a rudimentary knowledge in general statistics to apply the methods. The Theory provides the motivation, theory and results of simulation experiments to justify the methodology. This is a coherent introduction to the statistical concepts required to understand the authors’ thesis that evidence in a test statistic can often be calibrated when transformed to the right scale.

Conducting Meta-Analysis Using SAS reviews the meta-analysis statistical procedure and shows the reader how to conduct one using SAS. It presents and illustrates the use of the PROC MEANS procedure in SAS to perform the data computations called for by the two most commonly used meta-analytic procedures, the Hunter & Schmidt and Glassian approaches. This book serves as both an operational guide and user's manual by describing and explaining the meta-analysis procedures and then presenting the appropriate SAS program code for computing the pertinent statistics. The practical, step-by-step instructions quickly prepare the reader to conduct a meta-analysis. Sample programs available on the Web further aid the reader in understanding the material. Intended for researchers, students, instructors, and practitioners interested in conducting a meta-analysis, the presentation of both formulas and their associated SAS program code keeps the reader and user in touch with technical aspects of the meta-analysis process. The book is also appropriate for advanced courses in meta-analysis psychology, education, management, and other applied social and health sciences departments.

Author Fredric M. Wolf explains how to use combined statistical tests and measures of effect size to synthesize the results of independent studies of a common research question.

This is the first book to introduce the new statistics - effect sizes, confidence intervals, and meta-analysis - in an accessible way. It is chock full of practical examples and tips on how to analyze and report research results using these techniques. The book is invaluable to readers interested in meeting the new APA Publication Manual guidelines by adopting the new statistics - which are more informative than null hypothesis significance testing, and becoming widely used in many disciplines. Accompanying the book is the Exploratory Software for Confidence Intervals (ESCI) package, free software that runs under Excel and is accessible at www.thenewstatistics.com. The book’s exercises use ESCI's simulations, which are highly visual and interactive, to engage users and encourage exploration. Working with the simulations strengthens understanding of key statistical ideas. There are also many examples, and detailed guidance to show readers how to analyze their own data using the new statistics, and practical strategies for interpreting the results. A particular strength of the book is its explanation of meta-analysis, using simple diagrams and examples. Understanding meta-analysis is increasingly important, even at undergraduate levels, because medicine, psychology and many other disciplines now use meta-analysis to assemble the evidence needed for evidence-based practice. The book’s pedagogical program, built on cognitive science principles, reinforces learning: Boxes provide "evidence-based" advice on the most effective statistical techniques. Numerous examples reinforce learning, and show that many disciplines are using the new statistics. Graphs are tied in with ESCI to make important concepts vividly clear and memorable. Opening overviews and end of chapter take-home messages summarize key points. Exercises encourage exploration, deep understanding, and practical applications. This highly accessible book is intended as the core text for any course that emphasizes the new statistics, or as a supplementary text for graduate and/or advanced undergraduate courses in statistics and research methods in departments of psychology, education, human development , nursing, and natural, social, and life sciences. Researchers and practitioners interested in understanding the new statistics, and future published research, will also appreciate this book. A basic familiarity with introductory statistics is assumed.