Online Program

How to Use Meta-Analysis to Solve Real-World Problems? (303946)

Keywords: meta-analysis, hand-on experience, publication bias, heterogeneity, random-effects models

Meta-analysis is a critical statistical tool in many fields including medicine, public health, sociology, social psychology, finance and economics, political science, marketing, ecology and genetics. The application of meta-analysis to the synthesis of evidence is increasing. This session will focus on practical application of meta-analysis in solving real-world problems across many industries. Participants gain a deeper understand of this statistics methodology; additionally, course materials will provide attendees with practical knowledge, hand-on experience, and step-by-step guidance on conducting meta-analyses. Specific topics to be covered include: formulating an answerable research question, identifying relevant studies/data sources, assessing risk of bias, extracting and synthesizing data, analyzing heterogeneity and publication bias. The course will cover statistical issues such as selection of statistical models for meta-analysis, as well as assessing and correcting publication bias. Lastly, the course will provide practical examples of fixed and random effects models, and illustrative data analysis examples reproducible across Stata, SAS, R and other statistical packages.