Objectives: The Cochrane Statistics 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 Review Manager (RevMan) software, with advice on which might be used when, and why, and what the results mean.