ilog3 Education Meta-Analysis Preparation
Goal
Prepare data structures and analysis plans for a defensible education meta-analysis.
Inputs
- Systematic review question
- Eligible intervention/effect studies
- Outcome types and statistics reported
- Study designs
- Moderator candidates
Workflow
- Confirm enough comparable quantitative studies exist.
- Define effect size metric: SMD/Hedges g, correlation, odds ratio, risk ratio.
- Create coding manual and extraction sheet.
- Plan dependency handling for multiple effects.
- Choose random/fixed effects model.
- Plan heterogeneity, moderators, sensitivity, publication bias.
- Produce analysis script skeleton and reporting template.
Tool Calls
R packages:
install.packages(c("metafor", "meta", "dmetar", "clubSandwich", "robumeta"))
RevMan:
https://training.cochrane.org/online-learning/core-software/revman
Extraction sheet:
Excel/Sheets with study_id, effect_id, n_treat, n_control, mean/sd, outcome, timepoint, moderator fields
Output Format
| Field | Definition | Coding Rule |
|---|
Include:
- Effect size plan
- Coding sheet
- R analysis outline
- Forest/funnel plot plan
- Reporting checklist
Quality Rules
- Meta-analysis requires comparable outcomes and enough studies.
- Random effects are common in education due to contextual heterogeneity.
- Record decisions for dependent effect sizes.