meta analysis

• meta analysis


  process of combining results from number of studies on particular topic to provide overall view - form of secondary data as data isn't gathered first hand from researchers own research - may involve qualitative review of conclusions and quantitative analysis of results producing effect size across different studies
• Meta analysis advantage 


  easier to gather results on a large scale - draw findings from range of studies, easier to gather results which represent wider more representative sample than most single studies can - e.g. research can consider studies of similar type conducted in many countries to compare effects of particular variable cross-culturally - allows us to view data with more confidence and findings may be said to be higher in population validity
• Meta analysis disadvantage 


  may suffer from file-drawer effect - meta analysis research relies on researcher selecting a series of studies in order to analyse overall view but this process of selection can be open to researcher bias - e.g. researcher choose to leave out any studies which don't support their hypothesis - results would be biased and not a true reflection of the research area