Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis: A Step-by-Step Approach, 4th Edition (Applied Social Research Methods Series), Vol. 2

Offering practical advice on how to conduct a synthesis of research in the social, behavioral, and medical sciences,the Foruth Edition of Harris Cooper bestselling textis invaluable to both first-time literature reviewers and experts looking for lucid discussions of complex issues. Reorganized and revised throughout, this textis written in plain language with numerous examples. Each chapter concludes with exercises for use as class projects.

Key Features

• Presents an updated version of Cooper’s easy-to-follow seven-step research synthesis process
• Highlights the critical questions to ask about synthesis methodology at each step and the identification of “best practices”
• Contains two new chapters, “Gathering Information From Studies” (Chapter 4) and “Interpreting the Evidence” (Chapter 7), giving expanded treatments on gathering information from studies and interpreting the evidence from a research synthesis
• Provides completely updated material on techniques for searching the literature, with an emphasis on new technologies and the Internet
• Includes a discussion of recent advances and issues in statistical techniques for meta-analyses
• Offers new standards for reporting meta-analyses results
• Incorporates new research syntheses drawn from the fields of education, social/developmental psychology, and health throughout the book

Intended Audience

This text is appropriate for use in upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in Intermediate/Advanced Research Methods, Applied Research Methods, and Intermediate/Advanced Quantitative Research offered in departments of psychology, education, public policy, social work, nursing, and other social science disciplines.

Offering practical advice on how to conduct a synthesis of research in the social, behavioral, and medical sciences, Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis, Fourth Edition, is invaluable to both first-time literature reviewers and experts looking for lucid discussions of complex issues. Reorganized and revised throughout, the Fourth Edition of Harris Cooper's best-seller is written in plain language with numerous examples. Each chapter concludes with exercises for use as class projects.

Key Features

Presents an updated version of Cooper's easy-to-follow seven-step research synthesis process

Highlights the critical questions to ask about synthesis methodology at each step and the identification of "best practices"

Contains two new chapters, "Gathering Information From Studies" (Chapter 4) and "Interpreting the Evidence" (Chapter 7), giving expanded treatments on gathering information from studies and interpreting the evidence from a research synthesis

Provides completely updated material on techniques for searching the literature, with an emphasis on new technologies and the Internet

Includes a discussion of recent advances and issues in statistical techniques for meta-analyses

Offers new standards for reporting meta-analyses results

Incorporates new research syntheses drawn from the fields of education, social/developmental psychology, and health throughout the book

This text is appropriate for use in upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in Intermediate/Advanced Research Methods, Applied Research Methods, and Intermediate/Advanced Quantitative Research offered in departments of psychology, education, public policy, social work, nursing, and other socialscience disciplines.

Harris M. Cooper is professor in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University. He earned his doctorate degree in social psychology from the University of Connecticut. His research interests include research synthesis, applications of social and developmental psychology to educational policy issues, homework, school calendars, and afterschool programs.