Elena Valkama (Ph.D. in Biology), senior scientist at Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Bioeconomy and Environment, Sustainability Science & IndicatorsShe is the author of ten meta-analyses.Citations according to Google Scholar: >1000; h-index 15

Meta-analysis is powerfultechnique for quantitativesummarizing a large collection ofresults from publications.The 6-days course deals withapplication of meta-analysis, itspitfalls and their overcoming.Students will conduct their ownmeta-analyses by working insmall groups.

Dottorato di Ricerca in Agricoltura, Ambiente e Bioenergia

Introduction to meta-analysis in agricultural and environmental researchDr. Elena Valkama, visiting professor

elena.valkama@guest.unimi.it

DATE: February 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 2020TIME: 14.00 – 17:00 ROOM: C21

Via Colombo 62, Milano

Host: Prof. Marco Acutis

Course contentMeta-analysis is widely used in medical and social sciences, and it is becoming popular in agriculturaland environmental research. Meta-analysis is one method of research synthesis. In contrast tonarrative review, meta-analysis is a set of statistical methods for combining the magnitudes of theoutcomes (effect sizes) across different data sets addressing the same research question. Meta-analysis provides a powerful, informative, and unbiased set of tools for summarizing the results ofstudies on the same topic. An important contribution of meta-analyses can be to identify gaps in theliterature where more research is needed, and also to identify areas where the answer is definitiveand no new studies of the same type are necessary.

The 6-days course will involve combination of lectures and practical sessions where students willpractice conducting meta-analysis using MetaWin software. In addition, students will conduct theirown mini-meta-analyses by working in small groups on an assigned topic with 8-10 primary researchpapers provided per topic. Students would need to decide on effect size metric to use and inclusioncriteria, extract the data from the primary studies, design the extraction spreadsheet, conduct meta-analysis using MetaWin and present their results in the form of PowerPoint Presentation.

Learning outcome of the course:

After successfully completing this course students should be able to:1. Formulate questions for meta-analysis2. Formulate inclusion criteria for primary studies to be included in the analysis3. Design spreadsheets for data extraction4. Conduct literature search on the topic5. Extract data from published studies 6. Conduct meta-analysis using MetaWin statistical software7. Present the results of the meta-analysis

PrerequisitesAttendees should be familiar with basic standard statistical procedures used in biosciences (correlation and regression analysis, ANOVA etc).

Completion modeAttending the course and completing the group mini-meta-analysis practical and delivering presentation.

Dottorato di Ricerca in Agricoltura, Ambiente e Bioenergia

Introduction to meta-analysis in agricultural and environmental research

Dr. Elena Valkama

Programme 1st week

Day 1 (11 February 14:00) room C21Lecture 1 hourTypes of quantitative research synthesis.History of meta-analysis and its applications in agriculture and environmental sciences.Types of data and their conversion to effect sizes.Question formulation, data search and collection, data extraction, database creation and dealing withmissing data.

Practical 2 hoursIdentify correct meta-analysisExtract data from figures by using ImageJExtract data from tablesRunning MetaWin, exercises.

Day 2 (12 February 14:00) room C02Lecture 1 hourCombining effect sizes across studiesTesting for moderators: a meta-regression and subgroup analysisConducting meta-analysis with MetaWin.

Practical 2 hoursWork in groups: students decide on inclusion criteria and metrics of effect size for their own meta-analysis based on 8-10 studies and begin data extraction.

Day 3 (13 February 14:00) room C21Lecture 1 hDealing with publication bias and varying research qualityDealing with non-independence of observations (long-term experiments, multi-treatmentsexperiments, multi-species/varieties)Dealing with different controlsDealing with different experimental designs .

Practical 2 hWork in groups: completing data extraction for own meta-analysis, running MetaWin and testing formoderators.

Dottorato di Ricerca in Agricoltura, Ambiente e Bioenergia

Introduction to meta-analysis in agricultural and environmental research

Dr. Elena Valkama

Programme 2nd week

Day 4 (18 February 14:00) room C22Lecture 1 hFormat of meta-analysis reportReview of case studies of meta-analyses in Agricultural and Environmental SciencesWhen to use and not to use meta-analysis, critique of meta-analysis.

Practical 2 hWork in groups: testing for publication bias in own dataset, considering sources of non-independence,finalizing analyses.

Day 5 (19 February 14:00) room 3Lecture 1hReplying on students` questions.

Practical 2 hWork in groups: preparing Power Point presentation with results of the meta-analyses.

Day 6 3 h (20 February 14:00) room C22Students´ presentations on the results of their analyses and discussion.

Dottorato di Ricerca in Agricoltura, Ambiente e Bioenergia

Introduction to meta-analysis in agricultural and environmental research

Dr. Elena Valkama