Training course in meta-analysis

Purpose of the workshop

This workshop was designed to provide participants with hands-on experience in conducting ecological meta-analysis. The workshop was organised by WSL Birmensdorf. Participants learned how to:

• conceptualize a meta-analysis,
• frame research questions in a format that can be implemented with meta-analysis,
• choose appropriate statistical models,
• search for the data,
• carry out the analysis, and
• interpret, evaluate and present the results.

Objectives

Participants became familiar with what meta-analysis is, where it comes from, some examples of how it has been used in ecology, and its major strengths, weaknesses, advantages and limitations as a tool for the quantitative summary of research results. They became familiar with using MetaWin 2.0 software to do the calculations involved in typical ecological meta-analyses, and learn how to interpret the output. They were introduced to issues and methods for gathering data from the scientific literature to use in ecological meta-analysis, and learned how to organize and input those data into MetaWin. They conducted a preliminary meta-analysis on their own data or on other ecological data. Finally, they learned how to evaluate and critique the results.

Lecturer

Dr. Jessica Gurevitch, University of New York, Stony Brook

Format

Lectures, demonstrations of methods, hands-on experience using MetaWin 2.0 software with ample opportunities for questions and feedback, group discussions and presentations