CPSY 501 Fall 2009 HW Assignment #4:
Meta-Analysis

Total: 20pts. Due: Fri 11Dec 12:00 noon, uploaded to myCourses

Meta-Analysis

One of the advanced statistical procedures that professionals need to be equipped with is meta-analysis, a quantitative strategy for reviewing quantitative research on therapy. This assignment will ask you to apply principles and concepts we've learned to this kind of analysis.

Hill & Lent, 2006

All questions are based on the article by Hill and Lent (2006). Please download and read this paper in depth. Our lecture covers basic concepts and illustrates them in the section of the article comparing training methods to no-training controls (p. 161); this homework assignment continues the analysis in two other sections of the paper.

APA Style (2pts)

Please format your answers as a complete APA-style paper. Be sure to include a title page, running headers, etc., and especially pay attention to formatting your statistical results in proper APA style, including reporting the effect sizes, df, test statistics, and p-values. Tables/figures must be formatted in proper APA style, as well. Write up your answers in a clear and well-formatted document (e.g., Word). You should upload just one file to myCourses: your write-up (*.doc).

#1: "Studies Directly Comparing Methods of Training" (6pts)

Read the section on "Studies Directly Comparing Methods of Training," pp. 161ff.

In this section, Hill & Lent drop the one study from their calculations that shows a negative effect for the modeling condition. What was the effect of dropping this study? State one reason why the decision to omit that study was justified and one reason why this decision might be misleading given the "atypical" effect size. Is their decision theoretically "persuasive"?

#2: "Studies of the Additive Effects of Training Components" (6pts)

Read the section on "Studies of the Additive Effects of Training Components," p. 162.

In this section, Hill & Lent drop one study from their estimation that was an "apparent outlier". What was the effect of dropping this outlier? State one reason why the decision to omit that study was justified and one reason why this decision might be misleading. Is their decision theoretically "persuasive"?

#3: Further Questions of Comparability (6pts)

State at least two other questions about the comparability of the studies that are not addressed in these two sections (drawing on class discussion, or the "moderating" variables discussion in the article). Discuss and clearly state what possible impact you can envision of the factors you raise in your question.