A tutorial on conducting meta-analyses of clinical outcome research

Throughout the educational, medical, psychological, and social sciences, meta-analysis is the present-day, broadly accepted means for combining many quasi-experiments in a synthesis for the purpose of establishing the weight of scientific evidence bearing on a certain research question. Meta-analysis thereby is the preferred method for determining the preponderance of evidence in clinical-outcome research relating to questions of treatment efficacy and treatment effectiveness. Relatively few meta-analyses appear in the literature of the communication disorder sciences. The purpose of this tutorial is to enhance the familiarity and accessibility of this technology in the domains of audiology and speech-language pathology. The results of the accompanying example constitute a preliminary meta-analysis of patient-perceived treatment effectiveness. The substance of the tutorial, however, transcends disciplinary interests regarding types of communication disorder.