Methods of Meta-Analysis: Correcting Error and Bias in Research Findings

Meta-analysis is arguably the most important methodological innovation in the social and behavioral sciences in the last 25 years. Developed to offer researchers an informative account of which methods are most useful in integrating research findings across studies, this book will enable the reader to apply, as well as understand, meta-analytic methods. Rather than taking an encyclopedic approach, the authors have focused on carefully developing those techniques that are most applicable to social science research, and have given a general conceptual description of more complex and rarely-used techniques. Fully revised and updated, Methods of Meta-Analysis, Second Edition is the most comprehensive text on meta-analysis available today.

John E. (Jack) Hunter (1939--2002) was a professor in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University. He received his Ph.D. in quantitative psychology from the University of Illinois. Jack coauthored four books and authored or coauthored over 200 articles and book chapters on a wide variety of methodological topics, including confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis, measurement theory and methods, statistics, and research methods. He also published numerous research articles on such substantive topics as intelligence, attitude change, the relationship between attitudes and behavior, validity generalization, differential validity/selection fairness, and selection utility. Much of his research on attitudes was in the field of communications, and the American Communications Association named a research award in his honor. Professor Hunter received the Distinguished Scientific Award for Contributions to Applied Psychology from the American Psychological Association (APA) (jointly with Frank Schmidt) and the Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award from the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology (SIOP) (also jointly with Frank Schmidt). He was a Fellow of APA, APS, and SIOP, and was a past president of the Midwestern Society for Multivariate Experimental Psychology. For the story of Jack's life, see Schmidt (2003).

Frank L. Schmidt is the Gary F. Fethke Leadership Professor Emeritus in the Department of Management and Organization in the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa. He received his Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology from Purdue University and has been on the faculties of Michigan State and George Washington Universities. He has authored or coauthored seven books and nearly 200 articles and book chapters on measurement, statistics, research methods, individual differences, and personnel selection. He headed a research program in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in Washington, D.C., for 11 years, during which time he published numerous research studies in personnel psychology, primarily with John Hunter. Their research on the generalizability of employment selection method validities led to the development of the meta-analysis methods presented in this book. Professor Schmidt has received the Distinguished Scientific Award for Contributions to Applied Psychology from the American Psychological Association (APA) (jointly with John Hunter) and the Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award from the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology (SIOP) (also jointly with John Hunter). He has also received the Ingram Olkin Award and the Frederick Mosteller Award, both for contributions to meta-analysis methodology; the Scientific Award for Applications of Psychology from the Association for Psychological Science (APS); the Gold Medal Lifetime Achievement award from the APA Foundation; the Distinguished Career Award for Contributions to Human Resources, and the Distinguished Career Achievement Award for Contributions to Research Methods, both from the Academy of Management. He is a Fellow of the APA, the Association for Psychological Science, and SIOP, and is past president of Division 5 (Measurement, Statistics, & Evaluation) of the APA.