Made possible with the support of the Research and Theory Section.

This session introduces attendees to the process of meta-analysis and other systematic review techniques. The session consists of three parts. First, I describe the role of literature reviews in the accumulation of scientific evidence, responding to concerns about replication and the increasing number of studies in many fields. In the second and most extensive part of the session, I introduce the major steps of perfroming a meta-analysis. Specifically, attendees will be introduced to the techniques of performing a comprehensive and representative literature search, the process of systematically coding effect sizes and study characteristics, and analytic techniques to combine and compare effect sizes across studies. In the third part of the session, I will briefly compare meta-analysis to related techniques (e.g., integrative data analysis, other forms of systematic review) and discuss how a combination of primary studies, secondary studies, and meta-analyses lead to a model of knowledge accumulation in family science. (delivered lecture style)

Objectives

Attendees of this session will (1) learn the role of literature reviews in the accumulation of family science knowledge; (2) be able to read and better understand published meta-analyses; and (3) understand the general steps of performing a meta-analysis, with guidance for future learning if interested in conducting a meta-analysis.