Introduction to Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis

31 October & 1 November 2024

Dr. Elisa Volpi (UNIGE)

Martino Ongis, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Psychology at Franklin University Switzerland and Design Studio Associate at the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University

Email: mongis(at)fus(dot)edu

This workshop equips students with essential skills for conducting comprehensive reviews in the social sciences, with a primary focus on systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Throughout the workshop, students will learn the most effective practices for managing all steps of the review process, from creating effective search terms to narratively synthesizing data from various studies, and from applying PRISMA standards to reporting results in quantitative reviews. By the end of the course, students will not only understand the purpose of different types of reviews but also gain expertise in systematically executing each stage of a systematic review, thereby grasping a comprehensive "how-to" of the entire review process.

Genève

SCHEDULE:

**Day 1 – Thursday, October 31, 2024** 

9:00-12.30

· Introduction / history 

· Different forms of revision 

Part I - Systematic reviews 

· Delimitation of the research question

· Defining inclusion and exclusion criteria

· Pre-registration

· Choice of data sources and management software 

· Election of keywords for the search

· Search and storage of results

· Evaluations of the quality of selected articles

14.00-17.30

· Synthesis and interpretation of results

· Writing a qualitative systematic review article

· Checklist for submission (PRISMA and PRISMA-SCP)

· Quality assessment of qualitative systematic reviews (AMSTAR 1 and 2)

· Frequent problems in qualitative systematic reviews

· Analysis of existing qualitative reviews

**Day 2 – Friday, November 1, 2024** 

9:00-12:30

Part 2 – Meta-analysis

· Introduction to meta-analysis

· Steps in conducting a meta-analysis

· Data collection and extraction

· Assessing study quality and risk of bias 

· Data synthesis methods (fixed vs. random-effects models, heterogeneity)

· Calculating effect sizes

14:00-17:30

· Dealing with publication bias

· Interpreting results 

· Writing a meta-analysis report 

· Checklist and quality assessment for meta-analysis (PRISMA, AMSTAR)

· Frequent issues in meta-analysis

· Analysis of existing meta-analyses 

Readings

Required

1. Baumeister, R. F. (2013). Writing a literature review. In M. J. Prinstein (Ed.), The Portable Mentor: Expert Guide to a Successful Career in Psychology (pp. 119–132). Springer.

2. Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1997). Writing narrative literature reviews. Review of General Psychology, 1(3), 311-320.

3. Card, N. A. (2012). Applied meta-analysis for social science research. Guilford Press. [Chapters 1-3]

4. Gurevitch, J., Koricheva, J., Nakagawa, S., & Stewart, G. (2018). Meta-analysis and the science of research synthesis. Nature, 555(7695), 175-182.

5. Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & PRISMA Group*, T. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. Annals of Internal Medicine, 151(4), 264-269.

6. Siddaway, A. P., Wood, A. M., & Hedges, L. V. (2019). How to do a systematic review: a best practice guide for conducting and reporting narrative reviews, meta-analyses, and meta-syntheses. Annual Review of Psychology, 70(1), 747-770.

Recommended 

1. Chalmers, I., Hedges, L. V., & Cooper, H. (2002). A brief history of research synthesis. Evaluation & the Health Professions, 25(1), 12-37. 

2. Hansen, C., Steinmetz, H., & Block, J. (2022). How to conduct a meta-analysis in eight steps: a practical guide. Management Review Quarterly, 1-19. 

3. Nosek, B. A., Alter, G., Banks, G. C., Borsboom, D., Bowman, S. D., Breckler, S. J., ... & Yarkoni, T. S. C. I. E. N. T. I. F. I. C. S. T. A. N. D. A. R. D. S. (2015). Promoting an open research culture. Science, 348(6242), 1422-1425

4. Suurmond R, van Rhee, H, Hak T. (2017). Introduction, comparison and validation of Meta-Essentials: A free and simple tool for meta-analysis. Research Synthesis Methods. Vol. 8, Iss. 4, 537-553. 

Note: Readings will be available upon request prior to the workshop.

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