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Joined: Jun 2005
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta-analysisMeta-analysis is an analysis of the combined results of many studies. It's a powerful technique, but it's not free of problems. According to the wiki article above, it's "widely used in epidemiology and evidence-based medicine today." It's also used to analyze the results of parapsychological research.
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Joined: Oct 2006
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Thanks TFF,
Seems as if an analysis based on other analyses would damp or moderate any bias that could creep into an individual analysis.
Pyrolysis creates reduced carbon! ...Time for the next step in our evolutionary symbiosis with fire.
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Joined: Oct 2006
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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,164 |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta-analysisMeta-analysis is an analysis of the combined results of many studies. It's a powerful technique, but it's not free of problems. According to the wiki article above, it's "widely used in epidemiology and evidence-based medicine today." It's also used to analyze the results of parapsychological research. i.e. "Global Warming" meta-analysis http://www.springerlink.com/content/3124221583r4u782/Meta-analysis and its application in global change research Journal Chinese Science Bulletin: Volume 52, Number 3, p.289-302, Feb. 2007 [DOI 10.1007/s11434-007-0046-y] Abstract Meta-analysis is a quantitative synthetic research method that statistically integrates results from individual studies to find common trends and differences. With increasing concern over global change, meta-analysis has been rapidly adopted in global change research. Here, we introduce the methodologies, advantages and disadvantages of meta-analysis, and review its application in global climate change research, including the responses of ecosystems to global warming and rising CO2 and O3 concentrations, the effects of land use and management on climate change and the effects of disturbances on biogeochemistry cycles of ecosystem. Despite limitation and potential misapplication, meta-analysis has been demonstrated to be a much better tool than traditional narrative review in synthesizing results from multiple studies. .... http://nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/3245Publication: Oecologia. 126: 543-562, 2001. Title: A meta-analysis of the response of soil respiration, net nitrogen mineralization, and aboveground plant growth to experimental ecosystem warming Abstract: .... The direct and indirect effects of this potential increase in temperature on terrestrial ecosystems and ecosystem processes are likely to be complex and highly varied in time and space. The Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems core project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme has recently launched a Network of Ecosystem Warming Studies, the goals of which are to integrate and foster research on ecosystem-level effects of rising temperature. In this paper, we use meta-analysis to synthesize data on the response of soil respiration, net N mineralization, and aboveground plant productivity to experimental ecosystem warming at 32 research sites representing four broadly defined biomes, including high (latitude or altitude) tundra, low tundra, grassland, and forest. .... ...the Avandia problems came to light as a result of this kind of meta-study (though I don't know why this came up with the GW search). http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070809111507.htmIn their study, Nissen and Wolski pulled together data from wide-ranging clinical trials that were not necessarily designed to track heart attacks and cardiovascular death. In addition, most of the trials did not report occurrence of any heart attack or cardiovascular death. In this type of "sparse data" situation.... When the "corrected" data were recomputed using a different model, risk estimates were found to be lower. "Although the risks were still elevated, they were no longer statistically significant...." Even with the re-analysis, Diamond and Kaul are concerned about the practicality and reliability of combining data from 42 studies that had a variety of trial designs and protocols.
I'll be including "meta-analysis" into my future favorite search string terms.
Pyrolysis creates reduced carbon! ...Time for the next step in our evolutionary symbiosis with fire.
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I don't know. I've never done a meta-analysis. However, it seems that it that problems in a very few cases could skew the stats. This is why the methodology is important. They need to make sure that the methodology is clear enough that all the different labs are doing the same thing, so the stats are actually comparable. This is a lot harder to do in practice than it is to write about.
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