Meta-Analysis in Education: How Has It Been Used?

For many years, researchers have been concerned about the difficulties of integrating findings from dozens or sometimes hundreds of studies on a particular topic (see, e.g., Cooper, 1982; Jackson, 1980; Light & Smith, 1971). In traditional, descriptive reviews of research, different reviewers of the same body of research will draw markedly different conclusions, often in line with the reviewers' own biases.