ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at meta-analysis, a research technique that has been used for studying many issues in the social sciences, including the effects and impact of instructional technology. A meta-analysis is a study wherein a set of statistical procedures is used to summarize and synthesize the results of a number of independently conducted research studies. Gene Glass, a statistician and researcher working in educational psychology, is credited with coining the term "meta-analysis", and illustrated the use of this technique in an address to the American Educational Research Association in San Francisco in April 1976. Locating and screening studies that might meet the data criteria are the most time-consuming aspects of conducting a meta-analysis. The United States Department of Education (U.S. ED) meta-analysis established important baseline data for any other researcher planning to study the effects of online and blended learning. Its findings are cited over and over again for years to come.
