Meta-Analysis: Know-How and Beyond

Meta-analysis is essential for developing theories. This course helps students get to grips with the basic and advanced skills required for analysing data in open-science software.
During the course students will learn how to formulate a problem and analyse it by conducting a meta-analysis in JASP, an open-science software package. We will cover the literature extensively, and students will learn how to report their findings following the PRISMA standards.

This online course will provide you with the basics of preparing and describing a meta-analytical study in a separate article. You will learn how to apply this technique to summarise studies found in a manuscript in order to improve cohesion and suitability for publication.

Course leader

Dr. Jacek Buczny

Target group

Open to Master’s students, PhD candidates, and professionals interested in applying quantitative data analysis.
We welcome Master’s students, PhD candidates, and professionals interested in applying quantitative data analysis. This course takes inspiration from the disciplines of economics and business studies, as well as social and behavioural sciences.

Additional Requirements:
It is expected that students have already successfully completed a standard course in statistics. The coursework requires that students understand the concepts of effect size, statistical power, and generalizability. It is also beneficial if applicants are interested in reproducibility and replicability in scientific research (open science). A laptop with JASP installed is a must.

If you have any doubts about your eligibility for the course, please contact us: graduatewinterschool@vu.nl.

Course aim

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Formulate a research question to conduct a meta-analysis
• Carry out an expansive literature search
• Systematically review relevant literature
• Code studies fitting inclusion criteria
• Meta-analyze the coded effects using JASP software
• Interpret and report the meta-analytic results
• Apply PRISMA standards into a report