Abstract
Rationale: Systematic review and meta-analysis are located within a hierarchy of evidence-based practice, and their underlying epistemological and theoretical basis considered. The advantages of systematic review over traditional narrative reviews are discussed, together with the case for the use of meta-analysis to synthesise research findings. The feasibility of the use of these methodologies by educational psychologists is also considered.
Findings: The worked example details the steps necessary to carry out a systematic review and meta-analysis and the commentary addresses key issues such as specifying inclusion/exclusion criteria and determining relevance; specifying the literature search strategy and coping with the ‘grey’ literature; extracting and coding data from the included studies and the importance of reliability checks; study quality; selecting the most appropriate effect size; selecting the most appropriate model for meta-analysis (fixed-effect versus random-effect), combining and averaging effect sizes across studies; running weighted ANOVAs or meta-regression analyses to investigate heterogeneity; checks for publication bias; and sensitivity analysis to deal with outliers.
Conclusions: Future developments in these methodologies, details of available software and resources, and implications for educational psychologists who may wish to carry out systematic reviews and meta-analysis are discussed.
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 32 |
| Journal | Educational and Child Psychology |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sep 2016 |
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Keywords
- systematic review
- meta-analysis
- evidence-based practice
Cite this
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Systematic review and meta analysis. / Boyle, James; Connolly, Michael; MacKay, Tommy.
In: Educational and Child Psychology, Vol. 33, No. 3, 01.09.2016.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Systematic review and meta analysis
AU - Boyle, James
AU - Connolly, Michael
AU - MacKay, Tommy
PY - 2016/9/1
Y1 - 2016/9/1
N2 - Aim: This paper provides an overview of the research methodologies of systematic review and meta-analysis and uses a commentary on the analysis of data from a previously published study to illustrate the procedures and decision-making involved for consumers and those who may be considering carrying out a systematic review. Rationale: Systematic review and meta-analysis are located within a hierarchy of evidence-based practice, and their underlying epistemological and theoretical basis considered. The advantages of systematic review over traditional narrative reviews are discussed, together with the case for the use of meta-analysis to synthesise research findings. The feasibility of the use of these methodologies by educational psychologists is also considered.Findings: The worked example details the steps necessary to carry out a systematic review and meta-analysis and the commentary addresses key issues such as specifying inclusion/exclusion criteria and determining relevance; specifying the literature search strategy and coping with the ‘grey’ literature; extracting and coding data from the included studies and the importance of reliability checks; study quality; selecting the most appropriate effect size; selecting the most appropriate model for meta-analysis (fixed-effect versus random-effect), combining and averaging effect sizes across studies; running weighted ANOVAs or meta-regression analyses to investigate heterogeneity; checks for publication bias; and sensitivity analysis to deal with outliers.Conclusions: Future developments in these methodologies, details of available software and resources, and implications for educational psychologists who may wish to carry out systematic reviews and meta-analysis are discussed.
AB - Aim: This paper provides an overview of the research methodologies of systematic review and meta-analysis and uses a commentary on the analysis of data from a previously published study to illustrate the procedures and decision-making involved for consumers and those who may be considering carrying out a systematic review. Rationale: Systematic review and meta-analysis are located within a hierarchy of evidence-based practice, and their underlying epistemological and theoretical basis considered. The advantages of systematic review over traditional narrative reviews are discussed, together with the case for the use of meta-analysis to synthesise research findings. The feasibility of the use of these methodologies by educational psychologists is also considered.Findings: The worked example details the steps necessary to carry out a systematic review and meta-analysis and the commentary addresses key issues such as specifying inclusion/exclusion criteria and determining relevance; specifying the literature search strategy and coping with the ‘grey’ literature; extracting and coding data from the included studies and the importance of reliability checks; study quality; selecting the most appropriate effect size; selecting the most appropriate model for meta-analysis (fixed-effect versus random-effect), combining and averaging effect sizes across studies; running weighted ANOVAs or meta-regression analyses to investigate heterogeneity; checks for publication bias; and sensitivity analysis to deal with outliers.Conclusions: Future developments in these methodologies, details of available software and resources, and implications for educational psychologists who may wish to carry out systematic reviews and meta-analysis are discussed.
KW - systematic review
KW - meta-analysis
KW - evidence-based practice
M3 - Article
VL - 33
JO - Educational and Child Psychology
T2 - Educational and Child Psychology
JF - Educational and Child Psychology
SN - 0267-1611
IS - 3
ER -