Going beyond the narrative summarization of research findings: the meta-analysis approach

Meta-analysis, a method for summarizing empirical studies, has been advocated in many areas of behavioral research. Expanding on existing literature, this article provides an overview of meta-analysis with particular emphasis on its strengths and limitations. Overall, the quantitative approaches employed in meta-analysis offer many advantages as a literature review procedure. Even if meta-analysis is not adopted as the literature review method, awareness of the issues it raises can improve the traditional narrative summarization approach.