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Performing Meta-analyses with Very Few Studies

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Meta-Research

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2345))

Abstract

This chapter contains a methodological framework for choosing a model for the meta-analysis of very few studies and selecting an estimation method for the chosen model by means of study characteristics and by comparing results yielded by different approaches. When the results are inconclusive between different estimation methods, it might be the best solution to refrain from a quantitative meta-analysis but to summarize the study results by means of a qualitative evidence synthesis.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Biometry, Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care, Cologne, Germany

    Anke Schulz, Christoph Schürmann, Guido Skipka & Ralf Bender

Authors
  1. Anke Schulz
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  2. Christoph Schürmann
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  3. Guido Skipka
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  4. Ralf Bender
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anke Schulz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology University of Ioannina Medical School, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Imperial College London London, UK, Ioannina, Greece

    Evangelos Evangelou

  2. Knowledge Translation Program Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Department of Surgery and Cancer Faculty of Medicine Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology Imperial College London, UK ISSN, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Areti Angeliki Veroniki

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Schulz, A., Schürmann, C., Skipka, G., Bender, R. (2022). Performing Meta-analyses with Very Few Studies. In: Evangelou, E., Veroniki, A.A. (eds) Meta-Research. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2345. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1566-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1566-9_5

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-1565-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-1566-9

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