ABSTRACT
The prefix meta means “more comprehensive; transcending others.” A metaanalysis is a statistical analysis that transcends others by mathematically combining the results of studies conducted by various researchers to obtain an overall combined result (a statistical synthesis).1 Although this chapter discusses only the basics of meta-analysis, the information in it can be used to make important contributions to synthesizing data on a topic. Chapter 16 provides more advanced material on meta-analytic techniques.
