Meta-Analysis of Controlled Clinical Trials
Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 THE ROLE OF META-ANALYSIS
Meta-analysis was defined by Glass (1976) to be 'the statistical analysis of a
large collection of analysis results from individual studies for the purpose of
integrating the findings'. Although Glass was involved in social science research,
the term 'meta-analysis' has been adopted within other disciplines and has
proved particularly popular in clinical research. Some of the techniques of meta-analysis
have been in use for far longer. Pearson (1904) applied a method for
summarizing correlation coefficients from studies of typhoid vaccination, Tippet
(1931) and Fisher (1932) presented methods for combining p-values, and Yates
and Cochran (1938) considered the combination of estimates from different
agricultural experiments. However, the introduction of a name for this collection
of techniques appears to have led to an upsurge in development and application.
In the medical world, the upsurge began in the 1980s. Some of the key medical
questions answered by meta-analyses at this time concerned the treatment of heart
disease and cancer. For examp ... read full excerpt from Meta-Analysis of Controlled Clinical Trials ebook
