Doing Meta-Analysis with R: A Hands-On Guide

Doing Meta-Analysis with R: A Hands-On Guide serves as an accessible introduction on how meta-analyses can be conducted in R. Essential steps for meta-analysis are covered, including calculation and pooling of outcome measures, forest plots, heterogeneity diagnostics, subgroup analyses, meta-regression, methods to control for publication bias, risk of bias assessments and plotting tools. Advanced but highly relevant topics such as network meta-analysis, multi-three-level meta-analyses, Bayesian meta-analysis approaches and SEM meta-analysis are also covered. A companion R package, dmetar, is introduced at the beginning of the guide. It contains data sets and several helper functions for the meta and metafor package used in the guide.

The programming and statistical background covered in the book are kept at a non-expert level, making the book widely accessible.

Features

• Contains two introductory chapters on how to set up an R environment and do basic imports/manipulations of meta-analysis data, including exercises
• Describes statistical concepts clearly and concisely before applying them in R
• Includes step-by-step guidance through the coding required to perform meta-analyses, and a companion R package for the book

Mathias Harrer is a research associate at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg. Mathias’ research focuses on biostatistical and technological approaches in psychotherapy research, methods for clinical research synthesis, and on the development of statistical software.

Pim Cuijpers is professor of Clinical Psychology at the VU University Amsterdam. He is specialized in conducting randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses, with a focus on the prevention and treatment of common mental disorders. Pim has published more than 800 articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals; many of which are meta-analyses of clinical trials.

Toshi A. Furukawa is professor of Health Promotion and Human Behavior at the Kyoto University School of Public Health. His seminal research focuses both on theoretical aspects of research synthesis and meta-analysis, as well as their application in evidence-based medicine.

David D. Ebert is professor of Psychology and Behavioral Health Technology at the Technical University of Munich. David’s research focuses internet-based intervention, clinical epidemiology, as well as applied research synthesis in this field.