Notes
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Outline
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USING META-ANALYTIC TECHNIQUES TO MEASURE PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGE
IN PRIMARY STUDIES
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Aim
  • To explain
  • how effect sizes and confidence intervals
  • can be employed
  •  in primary studies
  • as indicators of amount of psychological change.
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Everything Depends On
  • efficacy of the intervention
  • validity, sensitivity and relevance of the DV
  • appropriateness of the analyses
  • interpretation of the results
  • -> understanding and controlling of causative processes
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Outline
  • The Significance Testing Controversy
  • What is Meta-analysis?
  • Effect Sizes
  • Interpretation of Effect sizes
  • Confidence Intervals
  • Graphical Displays
  • Benchmarking & Comparisons
  • Future directions
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The Significance Testing Controversy
  • Statistical significance testing was developed by Fisher to determine whether some agricultural techniques were superior to other techniques
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Which is More Impressive?
  • Statistical significance in a study with:
  •  N=10?
  •  N=100?
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"Statistical significant testing has been..."
  • Statistical significant testing has been utilised with little adaptation in psychological research, even though quite different questions are often being asked
  • This has undermined the value of much psychological research
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"Calls for a shift away..."
  • Calls for a shift away from significance testing have been largely unheeded for approx. 30 years
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The Four Possible Outcomes of a Significance Test
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Power
  • Power ~.60 in social science research
    i.e. on average, 40% chance of Type II error
  • Under reporting of power
  • Under reporting of effect sizes
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"“Despite numerous efforts to..."
  • “Despite numerous efforts to change self-concept there appears to be no consistent answer as to whether it is possible”

  • - Janet Hattie (1992, p.221)


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"Ways of Measuring Psychological Change"
  • Ways of Measuring Psychological Change

  • Clinical Observation/Opinion
  • Difference Scores
  • T Scores
  • Significance Testing
  • Effect Sizes & Confidence Intervals



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"Ways of Reviewing Research on..."
  • Ways of Reviewing Research on Psychological Change

  • Traditional Literature Review
  • Vote Counting
  • Secondary Analysis
  • Meta-analysis
  • Mega-analysis




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"Psychotherapy Debate"
  • Psychotherapy Debate
  •  To counter what appeared to be
    selectivity of studies
    included in a review of
    psychotherapy effects by Eysenck,
     Glass introduced a procedure
    he termed meta-analysis.
    [1976,1977]


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What is Meta-analysis?
  • Equivalent to traditional (qualitative) review paper
  • Enters summary quantitative data from each study into a new database, with IV codings
  • Overall effects are summarised and variance predicted
  • Used in medicine, psychology and education
  • Outcome measure of interest is the ‘effect size’
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Effect Sizes
  • A standardised measure of
  • ‘how much change’ OR
  • ‘how much shared variation’
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Effect Sizes
  • Cohen’s d
  • Hedge’s g
  • Pearson’s r
  • ANOVA - eta-square, omega-squared
  • Regression - R squared
  • Categorical - Phi & Cramer’s V


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Cohen’s d
  • - norms
  • - control group
  • - pooled
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Cohen’s d
  • A measure of
    the difference between two means
     in standard deviation units.

  • d is equivalent to the differences between two z scores
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Interpreting Effect Size (d)
  • -ve     = negative change
  •             0     = no change
  •           +ve   = positive change


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Interpreting Effect Size (d)
  • Cohen (1977):   .2     = small
  •                                   .5     = moderate
  •                                   .8     = large
  • Wolf (1986):       .25     = educationally
          significant
  •                                   .50     = practically signficant
          (therapeutic)
  • ESs are proportional, e.g.,
    .40 is twice as much change as .20
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Interpreting Effect Size (d)
  • No agreed standards
  • Interpretation is subjective
  • Best approach
    - compare with previous findings
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Comparative Effect Sizes (d)
  • Adult psychotherapy outcomes              : .68
    (Smith, Glass & Miller, 1980)
  • Children psychotherapy outcomes         : .71
    (Casey & Berman, 1980)
  • Classroom intervention - Achievement  : .40
    (cited in Hattie, Marsh, Neill, & Richards, 1997)
  • Classroom intervention - Affective         : .28
    (cited in Hattie, Marsh, Neill, & Richards, 1997)
  • Self-concept intervention programs       : .37
    (Hattie, J.A., 1992)
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OE Effect Sizes (d)
  • Adolescent OE programs (43 studies)            : .31
    (Cason & Gillis, 1994)
  • All OE research (96 studies)                       : .34
    (cited in Hattie, Marsh, Neil, & Richards, 1997)
  • Adventure Therapy - LOC                      : .38
    (Hans, 1997, 2000)
  • USA summer camps with self-focus      : .41
    (cited in Hattie, Marsh, Neil, & Richards, 1997)
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Interpretation of Outdoor Education Effect Sizes (d)
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Other ES Interpretations
  • Psychotherapy
    30% improvement for average client
  • Classroom-based affective programs
    11% improvement for average students
  • Outdoor education
    13% improvement for average participant
  • 65% of OE participants are better off
    than people who don’t do an OE program
    (35% are not better off!)
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Confidence Intervals
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Graphing ESs & Confidence Intervals
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Everything Still Depends On
  • efficacy of the intervention
  • validity, sensitivity and relevance of the DV
  • appropriateness of the analyses
  • interpretation of the results
  • -> understanding and controlling causative processes
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Looking Into The Future
  • Benchmarking for program evaluation and quality assurance
  • Increasing opportunities for cumulative, primary data research
  • MA may become common expectation for literature reviewing
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Conclusions
  • Use MAs and ESs in your literature reviews
  • Report ESs and CIs for your primary data
  • Discuss relevant ES comparisons
  • Suggest benchmarks
  • When reporting significance, report power
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References
  • Abbott, C. (1987). Does outdoor education really work?  Perks, research and reality.  Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Leadership, 4(2), 22-25.
  • Caldarella, P., & Merrell,-K.W. (1997). Common dimensions of social skills of children and adolescents: A taxonomy of positive behaviors.  School Psychology Review, 26, 264-278.
  • Cason D., & Gillis, H.L. (1994). A meta-analysis of outdoor adventure programming with adolescents. Journal of Experiential Education, 17(1), 40-47.
  • Cohen, J. (1977). Statistical power analysis for behavioral sciences (revised ed.). New York: Academic Press.
  • Hans, T. (1997). A meta-analysis of the effects of adventure programming on locus of control. Unpublished Master of Science thesis, Psychology Graduate Faculty, Georgia College, Milledgeville, GA.
  • Hans, T. (2000).  A meta-analysis of the effects of adventure programming on locus of control.  Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 30(1),33-60.


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References
  • Hattie, J.A. (1992). Enhancing self-concept.  In J.M. Hattie. Self-concept (pp.221-240). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Hattie, J. (1992). Measuring the effects of schooling.  Australian Journal of Education, 36(1), 5-13.
  • Hattie, J. (1992). Self-concept. New York:: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Hattie, J., Marsh, H.W., Neill, J.T. & Richards, G.E. (1997). Adventure Education and Outward Bound: Out-of-class experiences that have a lasting effect. Review of Educational Research, 67, 43-87.
  • Lawson, M. (1997, November 24). Wilderness training yet to prove its worth.. The Australian Financial Review (p.7).
  • Neill, J.T., & Richards, G.E. (1998). Does outdoor education really work?  A summary of recent meta-analyses.  Australian Journal of Outdoor Education, 3(1), 2-9.
  • Marsh, P.E. (2000).*
  • Smith, M.L., Glass, G.V., & Miller, T.I. (1980). The benefits of psychotherapy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Wolf, F.M. (1986). Meta-analysis: Quantitative Methods for Research Synthesis. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.