Abstract
Meta-analysis has recently been applied to a variety of areas in medical research (Collins and Langman 1985; Himel et al. 1986; Collins et al. 1985; Tran and Welt- man 1985). By meta-analysis we mean a quantitative synthesis of data across several different but related studies. This usually entails the application of uniform methods of statistical analyses and/or data presentation. Reasons for performing a meta-analysis include confirmation of a general hypothesis by combining data from related studies, estimation of a general treatment effect by combining data from related studies, generation of hypotheses for further testing, and convincing others of a finding by presenting a systematic summary of all studies related to that finding.
The research was partially supported by the National Cancer Institute, U10CA 12027, and by American Cancer Society grant RC13.
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© 1988 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg
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Rockette, H.E., Redmond, C.K. (1988). Limitations and Advantages of Meta-analysis in Clinical Trials. In: Scheurlen, H., Kay, R., Baum, M. (eds) Cancer Clinical Trials. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 111. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-83419-6_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-83419-6_13
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