Summarizes issues associated with psychological assessment, concluding that: psychological test validity is strong and is comparable to medical test validity; distinct assessment methods provide unique sources of information; and clinicians who rely solely on interviews are prone to incomplete understandings. Suggests that multimethod assessment…

A process for teaching research synthesis to advanced practice nurses includes two courses: a first research applications course in which students build bibliographic databases, practice statistical analysis, and develop search skills; and a second course in which they complete literature reviews or meta analyses of research on clinical practice…

Suggests the routine use of replications in field studies, pointing out that it is usually possible to synthesize replications quantitatively using meta-analysis. Makes the c ase that this is especially attractive for investigators whose research paradigm choices are limited in the field environment. (SLD)

Studied sources of measurement error variance in the Teacher Efficacy Scale (TES) (Gibson and Dembo, 1984). Used reliability generalization to characterize the typical score reliability for the TES and potential sources of measurement error variance across 43 studies. Also examined related instruments for measurement integrity. (SLD)

Over the past 25 years, meta-analysis has assumed a significant role in the synthesis of counseling and psychotherapy research through the evaluation and interpretation of the results of multiple studies. An examination of four widely recognized rehabilitation counseling journals, however, reveals that only one meta-analysis (Bolton & Akridge,…

This article focuses on applying systematic reviews to the Early Intervention (EI) literature. Systematic reviews are defined and differentiated from traditional, or narrative, reviews and from meta-analyses. In addition, the steps involved in critiquing systematic reviews and an illustration of a systematic review from the EI literature are…

The present report meta-analyzes more than 300 empirical articles describing a relationship between psychological stress and parameters of the immune system in human participants. Acute stressors (lasting minutes) were associated with potentially adaptive upregulation of some parameters of natural immunity and downregulation of some functions of…

This article examines the statistical determinants of risk preference. In a meta-analysis of animal risk preference (foraging birds and insects), the coefficient of variation (CV), a measure of risk per unit of return, predicts choices far better than outcome variance, the risk measure of normative models. In a meta-analysis of human risk…

The streamline is a basic position for competitive swimming starts mid turns and has been used in many studies on resistive forces. However, there is a wide yahweh, of theoretical interpretations in these studies, leading to diverse and questionable conclusions. The purpose of this study was to determine performance level differences in the…

Examined the findings of the "Teaching Children To Read" study of the National Reading Panel and the procedures of the study. Meta-analytic techniques found that the methodology and procedures were not adequate. Findings suggest that phonics, as an aspect of the complex reading process, should not be over-emphasized. (SLD)

The term "publication bias" usually refers to the tendency for a greater proportion of statistically significant positive results of experiments to be published and, conversely, a greater proportion of statistically significant negative or null results not to be published. It is widely accepted in the fields of healthcare and psychological…

Publication bias, sometimes known as the "file-drawer problem" or "funnel-plot asymmetry," is common in empirical research. The authors review the implications of publication bias for quantitative research synthesis (meta-analysis) and describe existing techniques for detecting and correcting it. A new approach is proposed that is suitable for…

This meta-analytic review combines the results of more than 60 studies to help determine the relative effects of work, nonwork, and demographic and individual factors on work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW). As expected, work factors related more strongly to WIF, and some nonwork factors were more strongly…

There are a number of challenges facing those who set out to conduct systematic reviews of intervention effects in the social sciences. These challenges include formulation of a review problem, gathering data about relevant studies and outcomes, analyzing that data, and interpreting the results. The first challenge, formulating a workable review…

Comments on the article by J. S. Hyde (see record 2005-11115-001), in which Hyde provided an overview of the many meta-analyses that have compared men and women on psychological attributes. The current author argues that, despite the strengths of Hyde's study, a major problem with the analysis is its lack of a theoretical basis for considering sex…