Meta-analysis: Combining the Results of Independent Experiments

Abstract In this chapter, we examine methods to statistically combine the results of separate studies to reach general conclusions. The statistical synthesis of the results of independent experiments is known as meta-analysis. These relatively new statistical techniques have been introduced fairly recently to the field of ecology (Gurevitch et al. 1992; Arnqvist and Wooster 1995), although they have had considerable influence on research synthesis in medicine (e.g., Sacks et al. 1987; Chalmers et al. 1989) and in the social sciences (e.g., Glass et al. 1981; Hyde and Linn 1986).