Meta Synthesis and Meta Analysis in Action with R

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Psychometrics, Department of Psychology, Tarbiat Modares University.

2 PhD in Clinical Psychology, Culture and Science University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Associate Professor of Psychometrics, Department of Psychology, Tarbiat Modares University.

4 Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology Shahed University, Tehran.

5 Assistant Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Meta-analysis and meta-synthesis are sophisticated statistical techniques that combine and analyze data from multiple independent studies to obtain a more comprehensive and reliable estimate of the relationship or effect size between variables. Systematic reviews provide a method for thoroughly reviewing and synthesizing findings from individual quantitative and qualitative studies to derive more reliable conclusions and comprehensive results. By integrating and analyzing a wide range of information, meta-analysis and meta-synthesis help in identifying consistent patterns. Achieving a comprehensive and adequate understanding in qualitative research is a significant goal, as it allows for the discovery of new research insights through conceptual exploration. Combining the quantitative results is also a worthy goal in finding scientific insights. Meta-analysis provides an overall effect size based on individual quantitative research studies. This phenomenon represents a research gap for a psychological sciences researcher or other researchers. This paper aims to explain the practical application of meta-synthesis and meta-analysis. The meta-analysis was illustrated with a numerical example using R 4.3.1.

Keywords

References

 
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Clinical Psychology and Personality
Volume 21, Issue 2 - Serial Number 41
January 2024
Pages 205-221

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