Meta-analysis
摘要
Fifty years ago, meta-analysis appeared to quantitatively summarize research literatures in psychology and other disciplines. This entry reviews its origins, the long-standing criticisms of meta-analysis, the importance of effect sizes in meta-analysis, the role meta-analysis plays in theory testing, the arguments for and against meta-analysis as a vehicle for ascertaining truth in human behavior, and the linking of meta-analysis to testing of causality.