This hands-on training, with step-by-step instructions and a one-month fully-functional license for Stata software, will give you what you need to conduct your own meta-analyses.

Meta-analyses (including meta-regression) have become essential tools for researchers in diverse fields – from biology and medicine to social sciences, engineering and more.

These powerful statistical techniques enable researchers to combine the results from a number of different studies, thereby providing more definitive insights as to whether certain conditions have particular effects.

Meta-analyses often lead to highly cited research publications that can change practice or the direction of future research. Because of this, some research funding bodies have now started demanding prior meta-analyses as a condition of awarding grants.

The training is led by Prof. Amanda Salis and Zübe Salis.

Amanda has produced 14 systematic literature reviews (8 of which contained meta-analyses), with 10 of these systematic reviews / meta-analyses being published to date.

Zübe is a computer engineer who has over 25 years of consulting and training experience, and 30 hours of formal training in meta-analytical techniques.

This training will equip you with …

• An understanding of the theoretical essentials of meta-analysis
• Confidence and competency in uploading, arranging, and managing data sets for meta-analysis
• Familiarity with simple coding in Stata, and the ability to run meta-analyses relevant to the research question at hand
• An understanding of how to identify sources of heterogeneity in the data
• Confidence in graphing, interpreting and reporting meta-analytical data for publication
• Understanding of the meaning of all the essential elements of meta-analyses, so that you can write the methods and results sections of your paper correctly and confidently

In brief, this training aims to take the uncertainty, confusion, and angst out of meta-analyses, thereby enabling you to enjoy this essential research skill with ease and confidence.

Who is this training for?

Any researcher from any institution who wishes to conduct (or supervise the conduct of) meta-analyses (with or without meta-regression) to advance their research.

• Honours students
• Higher degree research students (e.g. Masters and PhD students)
• Junior postdoctoral fellows
• Senior researchers

Training prerequisite

Essential

• Familiarity with use of spreadsheets such as Excel

Desirable

• Familiarity with the process of systematically reviewing the literature, because meta-analyses often use data that has been collected from systematic literature searching. To this end, you may find it helpful to complete the following free 90-minute training: Systematically review the literature.
• An idea of the research question you wish to address with meta-analysis, and what kind of data you will be using.

What you need for this training

Essential

• A computer with Stata software already installed on it. We will send registrants a Stata license key a week before the training, with clear instructions on how to download and install Stata on their computer. 

Optional

• Your own data that you can analyze at the training. Sample data will also be provided.

Training schedule

Session 1 of 4 (2 hours) -Theory and software basics

• Essential theoretical background
• Software essentials (getting to know Stata)

Session 2 of 4 (2 hours) – Data preparation and handling

• Getting data ready for meta-analysis with Stata
• Initial foray into meta-analysis with Stata

Session 3 of 4 (2 hours) – Conducting and graphing meta-analyses

• Supervised practice with meta-analysis in Stata
• Graphing data from meta-analyses (e.g. forest plots)

Session 4 of 4 (2 hours) – Interpreting and reporting on meta-analyses

• Heterogeneity
• Doing sub-group analyses and meta-regression with Stata
• Writing about your meta-analytical methods and results in papers for publication in the peer-reviewed literature

Refunds and Cancellations

Please refer to our Refund and Cancellation Policy.