With meta-analysis methods playing a crucial role in health research in recent years, this important and clearly-written book provides a much-needed survey of the field.
Meta-analysis provides a framework for combining the results of several clinical trials and drawing inferences about the effectiveness of medical treatments. The move towards evidence-based health care and practice is underpinned by the use of meta-analysis. This book:
* Provides a thorough criticism and an up-to-date survey of meta-analysis methods
* Emphasises the practical approach, and illustrates the methods by numerous examples
* Describes the use of Bayesian methods in meta-analysis
* Includes discussion of appropriate software for each analysis
* Includes numerous references to more advanced treatment of specialist topics
* Refers to software code used in the examples available on the authors' Web site
Practising statisticians, statistically-minded clinicians and health research professionals will benefit greatly from the clear presentation and numerous examples. Medical researchers will grasp the basic principles of meta-analysis, and learn how to apply the various methods.

About the Author
Alex Sutton has published extensively on meta-analysis methodology generally, and on publication bias specifically in recent years, including a major systematic review on the topic of the methodology that has been developed for meta-analysis. He currently has an active interest in the area of partially reported study information, which is currently under-researched. Dr. Sutton is co-author of a textbook on metaanalysis (Methods for Meta Analysis in Medical Research), which was published by Wiley in 2000.

Reviews

"Both books can be recommended for graduate training and are useful additions to the library of those interested in the meta-analytic accumulation of literatures on training, vocational learning, and education in the professions." (Vocations and Learning, 15 December 2010)

"This well-written book offers an exhaustive criticism and up-to-date references, illustrates effectively with real life examples and data..." (Journal of Statistical Computation & Simulation, July 2004)

"this is an excellent book..." (Short Book Reviews, April 2001)

"...recommended for mathematically skilled readers interested in getting an overview of the various methods and the existing literature..." (Statistics in Medicine, 15 October 2003)

Book Information
ISBN 9780471490661
Author Alexander J. Sutton
Format Hardback
Page Count 352
Imprint John Wiley & Sons Inc
Publisher John Wiley & Sons Inc
Weight(grams) 652g
Dimensions(mm) 238mm * 160mm * 25mm