Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 4 Pro (CMA) 統計分析軟體(年租版)

What is a meta-analysis?

Meta-analysis is the statistical procedure for combining data from multiple studies. When the treatment effect
(or effect size) is consistent from one study to the next,
meta-analysis can be used to identify this common effect. When the
effect varies from one study to the next, meta-analysis may be used to
identify the reason for the variation.

Why perform a meta-analysis?

Decisions about the utility of an intervention or the
validity of a hypothesis cannot be based on the results of a single
study, because results typically vary from one study to the next.
Rather, a mechanism is needed to synthesize data across studies.
Narrative reviews had been used for this purpose, but the narrative
review is largely subjective (different experts can come to different
conclusions) and becomes impossibly difficult when there are more than a
few studies involved. Meta-analysis, by contrast, applies objective
formulas (much as one would apply statistics to data within a single
study), and can be used with any number of studies.

Meta-analysis in applied and basic research

Pharmaceutical companies use
meta-analysis to gain approval for new drugs, with regulatory agencies
sometimes requiring a meta-analysis as part of the approval process.
Clinicians and applied researchers in medicine, education, psychology,
criminal justice, and a host of other fields use meta-analysis to
determine which interventions work, and which ones work best. Meta
analysis is also widely used in basic research to evaluate the evidence
in areas as diverse as sociology, social psychology, sex differences,
finance and economics, political science, marketing, ecology and
genetics, among others.

Where does meta-analysis fit in the research process?

Publications

Many journals encourage
researchers to submit systematic reviews and meta-analyses that
summarize the body of evidence on a specific question, and this approach
is replacing the traditional narrative review. Meta-analyses also play
supporting roles in other papers.  For example, a paper that reports
results for a new primary study might include a meta-analysis in the
introduction to synthesize prior data and help to place the new study in
context.

Planning new studies

Meta-analyses can play a key
role in planning new studies. The meta-analysis can help identify which
questions have already been answered and which remain to be answered,
which outcome measures or populations are most likely to yield
significant results, and which variants of the planned intervention are
likely to be most powerful.

Grant applications

Meta-analyses are used in
grant applications to justify the need for a new study.  The
meta-analysis serves to put the available data in context and to show
the potential utility of the planned study. The graphical elements of
the meta-analysis, such as the forest plot, provide a mechanism for
presenting the data clearly, and for capturing the attention of the
reviewers. Some funding agencies now require a meta-analysis of existing
research as part of the grant application to fund new research.

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The trial is the Professional Version of the program.