As researchers, when we delve into the literature in our topical area, we often find ourselves confronted with a number of quantitative research studies addressing our area of interest. How do we quantify what we know across this body of research? Meta-analysis can be a useful tool for quantitatively synthesizing what is known in a specific research area. However, the processes and procedures for conducting a meta-analysis can often seem overwhelming. This presentation will provide an overview of the types of research questions meta-analysis can address, procedures for literature search and retrieval, key information to gather from research studies, strategies for data management and analysis, and interpretation of results. A variety of meta-analytic techniques will be discussed and an educational research example will be presented.

Elizabeth Moorman Kim received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in CYFS working with Dr. Susan Sheridan on intervention programs aimed at building family-school partnerships. Her research interests include parenting and children’s motivation and achievement in school.