Agenda » Learning objectives
Course learning objectives
Basic course
The objective of this course is to introduce students to the logic of a basic meta-analysis and teach them how to perform a meta-analysis, critique a meta-analysis, and avoid common mistakes in meta-analysis. By the end of the course students will understand
- The goals of a meta-analysis
- How to choose a statistical model
- How to choose an effect-size index
- How to enter data for a simple meta-analysis
- How to estimate the mean effect size
- How to quantify and understand heterogeneity in effects
- How to report the results of the analysis
- How to create forest plots
- How to create plots that show the distribution of true effects
- How to avoid common mistakes in all these areas
Advanced course
The objective of this course is to teach students advanced issues in meta-analysis. By the end of the course the student will understand
- How to use subgroup analyses to compare the impact of a treatment in sets of studies that enrolled different populations or employed different variants of an intervention (analogous to ANOVA in a primary study)
- How to use meta-regression to assess the unique impact of continuous or categorical covariates on the effect size (analogous to multiple-regression in a primary study)
- How to assess the potential impact of publication bias on the analysis
- What to do when there are only a small number of studies in the analysis
- How to avoid common mistakes in all these areas
Testimonials
"I found this workshop incredibly helpful. This workshop has increased my confidence in conducting and interpreting a meta-analysis. Further, Michael's generosity with his time in taking questions during the breaks and after-hours were an unmeasurable benefit to this workshop. The additional benefits were all the resources provided as part of the workshop- these have been, and will continue to be so incredibly helpful."
Rebecca Lazarus - Macquarie University (Sydney, 2015)
"I was extremely unsure if this course was too far advance for me. Previously I did not have any experience with statistics. After having been reassured that the course doesn't assume how much one knows about Meta-Analysis I decided to take it. I really enjoyed how Dr. Borenstein explained analysis with multiple examples that made understanding Meta-Analysis simple and enjoyable."
Yousaf Zafar - NCH Residency Program - Los Angeles 2019