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
"Thank you. This course has helped me understand the ins and outs, assumptions and weakness of the meta-analyses I read and how I can improve current protocol that I've been working up!"
Katie McGill - University of Newcastle - Sydney 2020
"A lot of important information is covered in this course. I have gained a good understanding of the basic concepts of meta-analysis and become aware of some of the misunderstandings and 'traps' that are commonly encountered. I will definitely need to review all the information and apply it to my own M-A to reinforce what I've learned. Fortunately there is plenty of written and electronic back-up information provided too. Michael is a very passionate and generous instructor."
Janis Harse - University of Western Australia - Sydney 2020