Objective:

The Cochrane Statistical Methods Group has developed a series of workshops addressing statistical guidelines as formulated in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. This workshop will cover the basic ideas of meta-analysis at an accessible level.

Description:

Topics to be covered include: • What is a meta-analysis? • What is a ‘forest plot’? • What are ‘odds ratios’, ‘risk ratios’ and ‘risk differences’? • What is heterogeneity? • What do ‘fixed-effect’ and ‘random-effects’ mean? The emphasis of the workshop will be on obtaining a broad understanding of the differences between the various methods available in RevMan, with advice on which might be used when, and why, and what the results mean.