title: A Guide to Conducting a Meta-Analysis.
abstract: Meta-analysis is widely accepted as the preferred method to synthesize research findings in various disciplines. This paper provides an introduction to when and how to conduct a meta-analysis. Several practical questions, such as advantages of meta-analysis over conventional narrative review and the number of studies required for a meta-analysis, are addressed. Common meta-analytic models are then introduced. An artificial dataset is used to illustrate how a meta-analysis is conducted in several software packages. The paper concludes with some common pitfalls of meta-analysis and their solutions. The primary goal of this paper is to provide a summary background to readers who would like to conduct their first meta-analytic study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, Block AS4, Level 2, 9 Arts Link, Singapore, 117570, Singapore. mikewlcheung@nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Mike W-L
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, Block AS4, Level 2, 9 Arts Link, Singapore, 117570, Singapore.
authors.forename: Ranjith
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vijayakumar
mesh_terms: D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D017594:Publication Bias; D012196:Review Literature as Topic; D012984:Software
keywords: Literature review; Meta-analysis; Moderator analysis; Systematic review