ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the procedures used in meta-analysis and the steps related to its application. With the increase of primary research in the area of special education, meta-analysis has become an essential tool for synthesizing the overwhelming number of research studies. To illustrate the use of meta-analysis as it relates to special education research, the chapter explains the stages of research synthesis outlined by Cooper and Hedges: problem formulation, searching the literature, data evaluation, analysis and interpretation and public presentation. To provide a concrete example, it discusses each of these stages using a published meta-analysis that focused on Response to Intervention. The limitations of a meta-analysis are clearly related to the quality of the primary studies in terms of research design, sampling, and a host of other methodological variables. It is important that a researcher, in reviewing the available studies, draw some conclusions related to directions for further research.
