Advantages of Meta-analysis
The advantages of meta-analysis (e.g. over classical literature reviews, simple overall means of effect sizes etc.) are that it:
- Shows whether the results are more varied than what is expected from the sample diversity,
- Allows derivation and statistical testing of overall factors and effect-size parameters in related studies,
- Is a generalization to the population of studies,
- Is able to control for between-study variation,
- Includes moderators to explain variation,
- Has higher statistical power to detect an effect than in 'n=1 sized study sample',
- Deals with information overload: the high number of articles published each year,
- Combines several studies and will therefore be less influenced by local findings than single studies will be, and
- Makes it possible to show whether a publication bias exists.
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