Main description:

Review of the First Edition:

The authors strive to reduce theory to a minimum, which makes it a self-learning text that is comprehensible for biologists, physicians, etc. who lack an advanced mathematics background. Unlike in many other textbooks, R is not introduced with meaningless toy examples; instead the reader is taken by the hand and shown around some analyses, graphics, and simulations directly relating to meta-analysis... A useful hands-on guide for practitioners who want to familiarize themselves with the fundamentals of meta-analysis and get started without having to plough through theorems and proofs.

-Journal of Applied Statistics

Statistical Meta-Analysis with R and Stata, Second Edition provides a thorough presentation of statistical meta-analyses (MA) with step-by-step implementations using R/Stata. The authors develop analysis step by step using appropriate R/Stata functions, which enables readers to gain an understanding of meta-analysis methods and R/Stata implementation so that they can use these two popular software packages to analyze their own meta-data. Each chapter gives examples of real studies compiled from the literature. After presenting the data and necessary background for understanding the applications, various methods for analyzing meta-data are introduced. The authors then develop analysis code using the appropriate R/Stata packages and functions.

What's New in the Second Edition:

Adds Stata programs along with the R programs for meta-analysis

Updates all the statistical meta-analyses with R/Stata programs

Covers fixed-effects and random-effects MA, meta-regression, MA with rare-event, and MA-IPD vs MA-SS

Adds five new chapters on multivariate MA, publication bias, missing data in MA, MA in evaluating diagnostic accuracy, and network MA

Suitable as a graduate-level text for a meta-data analysis course, the book is also a valuable reference for practitioners and biostatisticians (even those with little or no experience in using R or Stata) in public health, medical research, governmental agencies, and the pharmaceutical industry.

Contents:

1. Introduction to R and Stata for Meta-Analysis
2. Research Protocol for Meta-Analyses
3. Fixed-E ects and Random-E ects in Meta-Analysis
4. Meta-Analysis with Binary Data
5. Meta-Analysis for Continuous Data
6. Heterogeneity in Meta-Analysis
7. Meta-Regression
8. Multivariate Meta-Analysis
9. Publication Bias in Meta-Analysis
10. Strategies to Handle Missing Data in Meta-Analysis
11. Meta-Analysis for Evaluating Diagnostic Accuracy
12. Network Meta-Analysis
13. Meta-Analysis for Rare Events
14. Meta-Analyses with Individual Patient-Level Data versus Summary Statistics
15. Other R/Stata Packages for Meta-Analysis