On the Meta-Analysis of Nonrandom, Quasi-Experimental Data

Background: The concept of hope is an important theme in chronic illness and palliative care and has been associated with increased psycho-spiritual well-being and quality of life. Psycho-spiritual interventions have been described in this population, but no systematic review of hope-enhancing interventions or hopelessness-reducing interventions has been conducted for persons with palliative care diseases. Aim: To describe and assess the effectiveness of interventions in palliative care that measure hope and/or hopelessness as an outcome. Design: This systematic review and meta-analysis was pre-registered (Prospero ID: CRD42019119956). Data sources: Electronic databases, journals, and references were searched. We used the Cochrane criteria to assess the risk of bias within studies. Results: Thirty-five studies (24 randomized controlled trials, 5 quasi-experimental, 6 pre-post studies) involving a total of 3296 palliative care patients were included. Compared with usual/standard cancer care alone, interventions significantly increased hope levels at a medium effect size ( g = 0.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.28–0.93) but did not significantly reduce hopelessness ( g = −0.08, 95% CI = −0.18 to 0.02). It was found that interventions significantly increase spirituality ( g = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.02–1.37) and decrease depression ( g = −0.29, 95% CI = −0.51 to −0.07), but had no significant effect over anxiety, quality of life, and symptom burden. Overall, quality of evidence across the included studies was rated as low. Conclusions: Evidence suggests that interventions can be effective in increasing hope in palliative care patients.

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Zeta potentials (ζ) of metal oxide nanoparticles: A meta-analysis of experimental data and predictive neural networks modeling

NanoImpact ◽

10.1016/j.impact.2021.100317 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 100317

Author(s):

Natalia Sizochenko ◽

Alicja Mikolajczyk ◽

Michael Syzochenko ◽

Tomasz Puzyn ◽

Jerzy Leszczynski

Keyword(s):

Experimental Data ◽

Neural Networks ◽

Metal Oxide ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Metal Oxide Nanoparticles ◽

Oxide Nanoparticles ◽

Zeta Potentials

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The Effects of Responsible Gambling Pop-Up Messages on Gambling Behaviors and Cognitions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2020.601800 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Benjamin Bjørseth ◽

Josefine Oudmayer Simensen ◽

Aina Bjørnethun ◽

Mark D. Griffiths ◽

Eilin K. Erevik ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Meta Analysis ◽

Responsible Gambling ◽

Gambling Behavior ◽

Cochrane Library ◽

Behavioral Measures ◽

Gambling Cognitions ◽

Study Heterogeneity ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Gambling Operators ◽

The Cochrane Library

Pop-up messages utilized by gambling operators are normally presented to gamblers during gambling sessions in order to prevent excessive gambling and/or to help in the appraisal of maladaptive gambling cognitions. However, the effect of such messages on gambling behavior and gambling cognitions has not previously been synthesized quantitatively. Consequently, a meta-analysis estimating the efficacy of pop-up messages on gambling behavior and cognitions was conducted. A systematic literature search with no time constraints was performed on Web of Science, PsychInfo, Medline, PsychNET, and the Cochrane Library. Search terms included “gambling,” “pop-up,” “reminder,” “warning message,” and “dynamic message.” Studies based on randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental designs and pre-post studies reporting both pre- and post-pop-up data were included. Two authors independently extracted data using pre-defined fields including quality assessment. A total of 18 studies were included and data were synthesized using a random effects model estimating Hedges' g. The effects of pop-ups were g = 0.413 for cognitive measures (95% CI = 0.115–0.707) and g = 0.505 for behavioral measures (95% CI = 0.256–0.746). For both outcomes there was significant between-study heterogeneity which could not be explained by setting (laboratory vs. naturalistic) or sample (gambler vs. non-gamblers). It is concluded that pop-up messages provide moderate effects on gambling behavior and cognitions in the short-term and that such messages play an important role in the gambling operators' portfolio of responsible gambling tools.

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When Problem Solving Followed by Instruction Works: Evidence for Productive Failure

Review of Educational Research ◽

10.3102/00346543211019105 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 003465432110191

Author(s):

Tanmay Sinha ◽

Manu Kapur

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Effect Sizes ◽

Productive Failure ◽

Ps I ◽

Initial Learning ◽

Younger Age ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

General Skills ◽

Passionate Debate

When learning a new concept, should students engage in problem solving followed by instruction (PS-I) or instruction followed by problem solving (I-PS)? Noting that there is a passionate debate about the design of initial learning, we report evidence from a meta-analysis of 53 studies with 166 comparisons that compared PS-I with I-PS design. Our results showed a significant, moderate effect in favor of PS-I (Hedge’s g 0.36 [95% confidence interval 0.20; 0.51]). The effects were even stronger (Hedge’s g ranging between 0.37 and 0.58) when PS-I was implemented with high fidelity to the principles of Productive Failure (PF), a subset variant of PS-I design. Students’ grade level, intervention time span, and its (quasi-)experimental nature contributed to the efficacy of PS-I over I-PS designs. Contrasting trends were, however, observed for younger age learners (second to fifth graders) and for the learning of domain-general skills, for which effect sizes favored I-PS. Overall, an estimation of true effect sizes after accounting for publication bias suggested a strong effect size favoring PS-I (Hedge’s g 0.87).

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A Review of Summarizing and Main Idea Interventions for Struggling Readers in Grades 3 Through 12: 1978–2016

Remedial and Special Education ◽

10.1177/0741932517749940 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 40 (3) ◽

pp. 131-149 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Elizabeth A. Stevens ◽

Sunyoung Park ◽

Sharon Vaughn

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Struggling Readers ◽

Visual Analysis ◽

Single Case ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Main Idea ◽

Single Case Design ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Comprehensive Search ◽

Single Case Designs

This systematic review examines the effects of summarizing and main idea interventions on the reading comprehension outcomes of struggling readers in Grades 3 through 12. A comprehensive search identified 30 studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 1978 and 2016. Studies included struggling reader participants in Grades 3 through 12; targeted summarizing or main idea instruction; used an experimental, quasi-experimental, or single-case design; and included a reading comprehension outcome. A meta-analysis of 23 group design studies resulted in a statistically significant mean effect of 0.97. Group size, number of sessions, grade level, and publication year did not moderate treatment effect. Visual analysis of six single-case designs yielded strong evidence for retell measures and a range of evidence for short-answer comprehension measures. Findings suggest that main idea and summarizing instruction may improve struggling readers’ main idea identification and reading comprehension. Limitations include the lack of standardized measures and the unreported, changing description of the counterfactual.

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Well-Being Interventions for Correctional Officers in a Prison Setting: A Review and Meta-Analysis

Criminal Justice and Behavior ◽

10.1177/0093854819869975 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 3-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Trisha J. Evers ◽

James R. P. Ogloff ◽

Justin S. Trounson ◽

Jeffrey E. Pfeifer

Keyword(s):

Fixed Effects ◽

Correctional Officers ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Exercise Program ◽

Well Being ◽

Eligibility Criteria ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Correctional Settings ◽

Rigorous Study ◽

Study Designs

This review and meta-analysis evaluated the effectiveness of well-being interventions offered to correctional officers within prison settings. A search strategy was developed and 11 databases were searched to identify eligible studies. Articles were screened against preset eligibility criteria, and quality was assessed using the Downs and Black Checklist. Nine studies were identified, including four single-group design and five quasi-experimental designed studies. Interventions comprised a mixture of crisis interventions, psychoeducational programs, and an exercise program. For those studies with sufficient data, a meta-analysis was conducted to examine intervention effects on stress and psychopathology. Fixed-effects meta-analysis showed that treatment had no effect on stress or psychopathology. Of those studies that could not be included in the meta-analysis, there were mixed outcomes. These findings highlight the need for more rigorous study designs and suggest further research is needed to examine the theoretical mechanisms in the development of interventions within correctional settings.

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Academic Achievement and Peer Tutoring in Mathematics: A Comparison Between Primary and Secondary Education

SAGE Open ◽

10.1177/2158244020929295 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 215824402092929 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Francisco Alegre ◽

Lidón Moliner ◽

Ana Maroto ◽

Gil Lorenzo-Valentin

Keyword(s):

Secondary Education ◽

Elementary Education ◽

Peer Tutoring ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Future Research ◽

Control Group ◽

Educational Levels ◽

Primary And Secondary Education ◽

Academic Benefits ◽

Quasi Experimental

Peer tutoring in Mathematics has reported academic benefits across many educational levels, from Preschool to Higher Education. However, recent literature reviews and meta-analysis state that students experience higher gains in Primary or Elementary Education (ages 7–12 years) than in secondary education or middle school and high school (ages 13–18 years). This study examined the effects of peer tutoring on students’ mathematics achievement in primary and secondary education under similar settings. 89 students from first, fourth, seventh, and ninth grades participated in the study. The design of this research was quasi-experimental with pretest–posttest without control group. The statistical analysis reported significant improvements for both, Primary and Secondary Education. The comparison between these educational levels showed that there were no significant differences in the increments of the students’ marks. The global effect size reported for the experience was Cohen’s d = 0.78. The main conclusion is that Peer Tutoring in Mathematics reports similar academic benefits for both, Primary and Secondary Education. Future research must be conducted as the superiority of Peer Tutoring in Primary over Secondary Education has yet to be proved in the Mathematics subject.

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Uptake of referrals for women with positive perinatal depression screening results and the effectiveness of interventions to increase uptake: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences ◽

10.1017/s2045796020000554 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

WQ Xue ◽

KK Cheng ◽

D Xu ◽

X Jin ◽

WJ Gong

Keyword(s):

Uptake Rate ◽

Observational Studies ◽

Perinatal Depression ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Depression Screening ◽

Site Assessment ◽

Uptake Rates ◽

Subgroup Analyses ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Meta Regression

Abstract Aims Perinatal depression threatens the health of maternal women and their offspring. Although screening programs for perinatal depression exist, non-uptake of referral to further mental health care after screening reduces the utility of these programs. Uptake rates among women with positive screening varied widely across studies and little is known about how to improve the uptake rate. This study aimed to systematically review the available evidence on uptake rates, estimate the pooled rate, identify interventions to improve uptake of referral and explore the effectiveness of those interventions. Methods This systematic review has been registered in PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42019138095). We searched Pubmed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Ovid, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang Database and VIP Databases from database inception to January 13, 2019 and scanned reference lists of relevant researches for studies published in English or Chinese. Studies providing information on uptake rate and/or effectiveness of interventions on uptake of referral were eligible for inclusion. Studies were excluded if they did not report the details of the referral process or did not provide exact uptake rate. Data provided by observational studies and quasi-experimental studies were used to estimate the pooled uptake rate through meta-analysis. We also performed meta-regression and subgroup analyses to explore the potential source of heterogeneity. To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, we conducted descriptive analyses instead of meta-analyses since there was only one randomised controlled trial (RCT). Results Of 2302 records identified, 41 studies were eligible for inclusion, including 39 observational studies (n = 9337), one quasi-experimental study (n = 43) and one RCT (n = 555). All but two studies were conducted in high-income countries. The uptake rates reported by included studies varied widely and the pooled uptake rate of referral was 43% (95% confidence intervals [CI] 35–50%) by a random-effect model. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses both showed that referral to on-site assessment or treatment (60%, 95% CI 51–69%) had a significantly higher uptake rate than referral to mental health service (32%, 95% CI 23–41%) (odds ratio 1.31, 95% CI 1.13–1.52). The included RCT showed that the referral intervention significantly improved the uptake rate (p ＜ 0.01). Conclusions Almost three-fifths of women with positive screening results do not take up the referral offers after perinatal depression screening. Referral to on-site assessment and treatment may improve uptake of referral, but the quality of evidence on interventions to increase uptake was weak. More robust studies are needed, especially in low-and middle-income countries.

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Acute hunger does not always undermine prosociality

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-019-12579-7 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jan A. Häusser ◽

Christina Stahlecker ◽

Andreas Mojzisch ◽

Johannes Leder ◽

Paul A. M. Van Lange ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Blood Glucose ◽

Public Goods ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Dictator Game ◽

Lay Theories ◽

Total N ◽

Public Goods Games ◽

Decrease Blood Glucose ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Stark Contrast

Abstract It has been argued that, when they are acutely hungry, people act in self-protective ways by keeping resources to themselves rather than sharing them. In four studies, using experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlational designs (total N = 795), we examine the effects of acute hunger on prosociality in a wide variety of non-interdependent tasks (e.g. dictator game) and interdependent tasks (e.g. public goods games). While our procedures successfully increase subjective hunger and decrease blood glucose, we do not find significant effects of hunger on prosociality. This is true for both decisions incentivized with money and with food. Meta-analysis across all tasks reveals a very small effect of hunger on prosociality in non-interdependent tasks (d = 0.108), and a non-significant effect in interdependent tasks (d = −0.076). In study five (N = 197), we show that, in stark contrast to our empirical findings, people hold strong lay theories that hunger undermines prosociality.

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A multidisciplinary survey on discrimination analysis

The Knowledge Engineering Review ◽

10.1017/s0269888913000039 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 29 (5) ◽

pp. 582-638 ◽

Cited By ~ 71

Author(s):

Andrea Romei ◽

Salvatore Ruggieri

Keyword(s):

Experimental Data ◽

Labor Economics ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

Statistical Techniques ◽

Observational Methods ◽

Discrimination Analysis ◽

Analysis Techniques ◽

Consumer Markets ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Multidisciplinary Perspective

AbstractThe collection and analysis of observational and experimental data represent the main tools for assessing the presence, the extent, the nature, and the trend of discrimination phenomena. Data analysis techniques have been proposed in the last 50 years in the economic, legal, statistical, and, recently, in the data mining literature. This is not surprising, since discrimination analysis is a multidisciplinary problem, involving sociological causes, legal argumentations, economic models, statistical techniques, and computational issues. The objective of this survey is to provide a guidance and a glue for researchers and anti-discrimination data analysts on concepts, problems, application areas, datasets, methods, and approaches from a multidisciplinary perspective. We organize the approaches according to their method of data collection as observational, quasi-experimental, and experimental studies. A fourth line of recently blooming research on knowledge discovery based methods is also covered. Observational methods are further categorized on the basis of their application context: labor economics, social profiling, consumer markets, and others.

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