| Coordinator | Robbie C.M. van Aert |
| Venue / Dates | Tilburg University, January 2026 (dates to be announced) |
| Mandatory/Elective | Elective |
| ECTS | 1 |
| Registration | secretariaat&iops.nl Deadline registration: December 2025 (date to be announced) |
| Fee | IOPS-members: free |
| Abstract | Given the exponential increase in published literature, there is a need for methods to synthesize and summarize the literature. Meta-analysis is the methodology for statistically combining evidence from multiple studies on the same topic. This two-day intensive course introduces participants to all steps of conducting a meta-analysis. Topics that will be discussed, among others, are: searching the literature for studies, computation of effect sizes, analyzing data using the equal-effect, random-effects, mixed-effects, multilevel, and multivariate meta-analysis model, sensitivity analyses, and publication bias analyses. Approximately half of the sessions will be lectures to discuss the theoretical concepts of meta-analysis. The other sessions will be hands-on sessions where the participants apply the theoretical concepts. Participants will be provided with data to analyze, but they can also bring their own meta-analytic data and analyze these (if they have any). We will use the statistical software R in these hands-on sessions. The aim of the workshop is that participants get familiar with the statistical details of meta-analysis such that they are prepared to conduct their own meta-analysis and/or develop new meta-analysis methods. The course assumes knowledge about linear modelling and preferably a basic understanding of R. Participants that are not familiar with R can still take part in the course since R code for many of the exercises will be provided. |
| Examination | Participation |
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