Meta-Analysis: Know-How and Beyond

Meta-analysis is essential for developing theories. This course helps students get to grips with the basic and advanced skills required for analyzing data in open-science software.

During the course, students will learn how to formulate a problem and analyze it by conducting a meta-analysis in JASP, an open-science software package. We will cover the literature extensively, and students will learn how to report their findings following the PRISMA standards.

This online course will provide you with the basics of preparing and describing a meta-analytical study in a separate article. You will learn how to apply this technique to summarise studies found in a manuscript to improve cohesion and suitability for publication.

Who can join?

We welcome Master’s students, PhD candidates, and professionals interested in applying quantitative data analysis. This course takes inspiration from the disciplines of economics and business studies, as well as social and behavioral sciences.

Learn how to formulate a problem and analyze it by conducting a meta-analysis in JASP.

The course is taught in the form of interactive seminars in which students will complete four individual assignments, one each day. After the submission of each assignment, students will receive feedback.

Go to 'Additional Course Information' at the bottom of the page for Course Readings and highly recommended Additional Sources.

Topics that will be discussed:

The two types of systematic reviews.

• Open science and meta-analysis: multisite replications.
• The pros and cons of meta-analysis.
• Publication bias and the quality of publications.
• Effect size and how to calculate it.
• Literature search, exclusion, inclusion, and coding.
• Heterogeneity and its consequences.
• Available software, including JASP.
• The fixed- and random-effects model.
• Estimating overall effect size.
• Analysis of moderators.

Additionally, students will become familiar with examples of published research to learn more about how to analyse them.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Formulate a research question to conduct a meta-analysis.
• Carry out an extensive literature search.
• Systematically review the relevant literature.
• Code studies fitting inclusion criteria.
• Meta-analyze the coded effects using JASP software.
• Interpret and report the meta-analytic results.
• Apply PRISMA standards in a report.