Statistical Methods for Meta-Analysis

The main purpose of this book is to address the statistical issues for integrating independent studies. There exist a number of papers and books that discuss the mechanics of collecting, coding, and preparing data for a meta-analysis , and we do not deal with these. Because this book concerns methodology, the content necessarily is statistical, and at times mathematical. In order to make the material accessible to a wider audience, we have not provided proofs in the text. Where proofs are given, they are placed as commentary at the end of a chapter. These can be omitted at the discretion of the reader.Throughout the book we describe computational procedures whenever required. Many computations can be completed on a hand calculator, whereas some require the use of a standard statistical package such as SAS, SPSS, or BMD. Readers with experience using a statistical package or who conduct analyses such as multiple regression or analysis of variance should be able to carry out the analyses described with the aid of a statistical package.

"This book brings a new level of statistical sophistication to the problem of comining quantitative measures from different studies. The book will be widely used and admired."—AMERICAN SCIENTIST

"Within its scope and for its intended audience, Statistical Methods for Meta-Analysis is...the best of several books on meta-analysis currently available. It belongs in the libraries of schools of education and of medicine, and in departments of economics, polictical science, psychology, sociology, and statistics. Anyone regularly engaged in meta-analysis will want to own it."—JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION