FINDINGS CUMULATION AND REPORT WRITING LECTURE 8 META ANALYSIS EPSY 642 FALL 2009 Victor L. Willson

Meta-Analysis Report-Writing Traditional journal approach: -Intro, lit review, methods, results, discussion -References: background, studies in meta analysis* -Tables: effects, SEs, Q’s, mediators, moderators -Figures: Cluster diagrams, funnel plots, graphs of effects by features Literature review approach: -Thematic or theory focus: what lit exists, what does it say Tabular summarizations of works

Theory section What is already proposed or known about the outcome What are the purported major mediators and moderators in the literature to date What does the literature say about each above? What is the controversy

Purpose of Study Explain why a meta-analysis will resolve problems in the literature State what the major outcome(s) to be examined State the major theoretical predictors to be examined

Methods Sample (or population) of studies Coding procedure nsevigny@vpfn.tamu.edu Methods Sample (or population) of studies Sources used to find articles Procedures for cross-referencing Coding procedure Coding menu (either as a table or appendix if possible) Procedures for reliability of coding Data analysis approach (eg. Lipsey & Wilson)

Results Descriptives: mean, SD, Q total, funnel plot or other figure of effects (see Lipsey & Wilson, for example) Design artifacts- do any cause interpretation problems, and if so what did you do about them Revised descriptives after design issues Mediators and moderators of substantive interest

Data Tables 1. summary of all articles- may have mean effect size or effects for each construct along with major independent variables 2. Table of Q statistics (may be in Table 1 above also) 3. Table of mediators and moderators 4. Any multiple regression analyses (vw does not recommend generally unless good theory for order of entry of predictors)

Summary/Discussion Refer to your original discussion of literature and theory What did you find that resolves problems or differences What new problems have arisen What research was missing from your meta analysis? What should people study?