Introduction
Scientists have known for centuries that a single study will not resolve a major issue. Indeed, a small sample study will not even resolve a minor issue. Thus, the foundation of a science is the culmination of knowledge from the results of many studies. (Hunter et al. 1982, p. 10)
Gene Glass’s meta-analytic work in psychotherapy and on class size in education marked the beginning of a new era in systematic reviews (Glass 1976; Glass and Smith 1979). Despite the initial objections of some skeptics (e.g., Eysenck 1978, 1995; Gallo 1978; Presby 1978), meta-analysis (M-A), as a methodology of quantitative synthesis, has continued to grow exponentially and has become the most reliable source of comprehensive summaries of quantitative research in a wide variety of fields (Glass 2016; Shadish and Lecy 2015).
However, like any other form of research, M-As can be biased in a number of ways (e.g., Abrami et al. 1988; Bernard et al. 2014a; Benard 2014; Cooper 2016; Polanin et al. 2016...
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Tamim, R.M., Borokhovski, E.F., Bernard, R.M. (2020). Methodological Quality of Educational Technology Meta-analyses. In: Tatnall, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Education and Information Technologies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10576-1_113
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