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Meta-Analysis - Online Course

A 4-Day Livestream Seminar Taught by

David Wilson
Course Dates: Ask about upcoming dates
Schedule: All sessions are held live via Zoom. All times are ET (New York time).

10:30am-12:30pm (convert to your local time)
1:30pm-3:00pm

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How do you make sense of conflicting results across studies? It is common for a finding that is statistically significant in one study to be statistically nonsignificant in another. Does this reflect differences in the design of the studies? Do the effects actually agree in direction and magnitude even if they are different in statistical significance? What if we have 5 such studies, or 50, or 500? It would be surprising if all such studies were in perfect agreement with one another. Thus, we need a method to make sense of the variability in findings across studies.

Meta-analysis is a statistical solution to this problem and has become a widely-used method for synthesizing results across studies in the social, biomedical and physical sciences. The key to meta-analysis is the effect size: it encodes the direction and magnitude of the finding on a common scale. Using specialized statistical methods, the average effect across studies can be estimated as well as an examination of the consistency of the effects. Analyses can also explore potential explanations for inconsistencies in findings, such as theoretically relevant design differences.

This course will provide hands-on instruction in conducting all aspects of a meta-analysis. You’ll learn to systematically search for studies to include in a meta-analysis, to code and extract data systematically, to compute effect sizes of various types, and to estimate both fixed and random-effects meta-analysis models. Finally, you will learn how to report and present the results of a meta-analysis.

Starting June 20, we are offering this seminar as a 4-day synchronous*, livestream workshop held via the free video-conferencing software Zoom. Each day will consist of two lecture sessions which include hands-on exercises, separated by a 1-hour break. You are encouraged to join the lecture live, but will have the opportunity to view the recorded session later in the day if you are unable to attend at the scheduled time.

*We understand that finding time to participate in livestream courses can be difficult. If you prefer, you may take all or part of the course asynchronously. The video recordings will be made available within 24 hours of each session and will be accessible for four weeks after the seminar, meaning that you will get all of the class content and discussions even if you cannot participate synchronously. 

Closed captioning is available for all live and recorded sessions. Live captions can be translated to a variety of languages including Spanish, Korean, and Italian. For more information, click here.

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"...this course was at exactly the right level."

“For me, this course was at exactly the right level. It walks you through all the stages of meta-analysis. The professor explains things clearly, and at a good level of detail. I like how he explained things in words, with basic equations, then showed us how to run the analysis, went over the output, and then talked about nuances and boundary cases after explaining the basics clearly. The instructor was excellent at answering questions, and was very patient and thorough.” 

Diane Holmberg

Trent University 

"Thank you so much for helping us better understand such a complex topic.”

“This seminar was clear and easy to follow. Dr. Wilson is an amazing teacher. Thank you so much for helping us better understand such a complex topic.”

Chirine Merhi

Université de Montréal

“The professor was very approachable, knowledgeable, and receptive to questions."

“The professor was very approachable, knowledgeable, and receptive to questions. I loved the homework exercises because it allowed me to test my skills to see if I actually learned the material. I also really appreciated the analysis in multiple statistical packages. It is very versatile and accommodating.” 

Ronia Kattoum

University of Arkansas at Little Rock 

"...David quickly addressed all questions from the audience.” 

“The instructor, Dr. David Wilson, appears to be knowledgeable about meta-analysis in general. It was nice that David quickly addressed all questions from the audience. 

Maxwell Hsu

UW-Whitewater

“The instructor was terrific. Good pace, good humor, very knowledgeable...”

“The instructor was terrific. Good pace, good humor, very knowledgeable. Interactive but moved things along. Accommodated all levels of ability/interest. The combination of conceptual overview and computational formulas, along with hands-on exercises, was well-balanced. The instructor was enthusiastic and energetic. He was generous in taking questions from participants from multiple disciplines and fields.”

Jane Berry

University of Richmond

“This course was an excellent introduction to meta-analysis..."

“This course was an excellent introduction to meta-analysis. The instructor was knowledgeable, engaging, and organized. The materials, resources, and lab exercises were extremely helpful. This course is probably appropriate for those who are new to meta-analysis, but provides a solid foundation for more advanced meta-analysis as well.”

Sabrina Kenny

University at Buffalo / New York City Department of Education

"... I recommend this course to everyone who comes across meta-analysis in their work.”

“This Meta-Analysis course works well as an introduction to problematics of meta-analysis. David explains every step very well from the beginning. I really appreciated that he took the time to explain the mathematical background behind each formula. I recommend this course to everyone who comes across meta-analysis in their work.”

Jakub Gazda

Pavol Jozef Safarik University