The Campbell Collaboration Systematic Review

1
The Campbell CollaborationSystematic Review

• Presented by
• Harris Cooper
• University of Missouri-Columbia
• Larry V. Hedges
• University of Chicago

2
A Campbell Systematic Review

• Is meant to synthesize evidence on social and
  behavioral interventions and public policy

3
A Campbell Systematic Review

• Is primarily concerned with
• Evidence on overall intervention or policy
  effectiveness and how effectiveness is influenced
  by variations in
• Process
• Implementation
• Intervention components
• Recipients
• Other factors

4
A Campbell Systematic Review

• Uses systematic, transparent rules to define,
  gather, summarize, integrate and present research
  evidence

5
How have the methods of systematic reviewing
developed?
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Statistical procedures for the integration of
research have existed for 100 years

• 1904 K. Pearson. Report on certain enteric fever
  inoculation statistics. British Medical Journal,
  3, 1243-1246
• 1932 R. A. Fisher. Statistical Methods for
  Research Workers. London Oliver Boyd.
• it sometimes happens that although few or no
  statistical tests can be claimed individually as
  significant, yet the aggregate gives an
  impression that the probabilities are lower than
  would have been obtained by chance. (p.99)
• Birge RT (1932). The calculation of errors by
  the method of least squares. Physical Review,
  40, 207-227.

7
Statistical procedures for the integration of
research have existed for 100 years

• Additional references to early work can be found
  in
• Chalmers, I., Hedges, L.V. Cooper, H (in
  press). A brief history of research synthesis.
  Evaluation and Health Professions.
• Olkin, I. (1990). History and goals. In K.W.
  Wachter M.L. Straf (Eds.). The future of
  meta-analysis. New York Russell Sage Foundation

8
Modern interest in statistical synthesis of
research exploded in the mid-1970s

• 1976 G. V. Glass Primary, secondary, and
  meta-analysis of research. Educational
  Researcher, 5, 3-8.
• Meta-analysis is the statistical analysis of a
  large collection of analysis results from
  individual studies for purposes of integrating
  the findings (p.3).
• 1977 F. Schmidt J. Hunter. Development of a
  general solution to the problem of validity
  generalization. Journal of Applied Psychology,
  62, 529-540.
• 1997 M. Hunt. How science takes stock The story
  of meta-analysis. New York Russell Sage
  Foundation

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Use of statistical procedures was precipitated by
the increase of social science research

• 1978 R. Rosenthal D. Rubin. Interpersonal
  expectancy effects The first 345 studies.
  Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3, 377-415.
• 1979 G. V. Glass M. L. Smith. Meta-analysis of
  research on class size and achievement.
  Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 1,
  2-16.
• 1979 J. Hunter, F. Schmidt R. Hunter.
  Differential validity of employment tests by
  race A comprehensive review and analysis.
  Psychological Bulletin, 86, 721-735

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and by demonstrations of flaws in traditional
reviewing procedures

• 1980 H. Cooper R. Rosenthal. Statistical
  versus traditional procedures for summarizing
  research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 87,
  442-449.

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The first textbooks on statistical procedures
appeared in the 1980s

• 1981 G. V. Glass, B. McGraw M. L. Smith.
  Meta-Analysis in Social Research. Beverly Hills,
  CA Sage.
• 1982 J. Hunter, F. Schmidt G. Jackson.
  Meta-Analysis Cumulating Research Findings
  Across Studies. Beverly Hills, CA Sage.
• 1984 R. Rosenthal. Meta-Analytic Procedures for
  Social Research. Beverly Hills, CA Sage

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The first textbooks on statistical procedures
appeared in the 1980s

• 1985 L. V. Hedges I. Olkin. Statistical
  methods for meta-analysis. Orlando, FL Academic
  Press.
• 1986 F. Wolf. Meta-analysis Quantitative
  Methods for Research Synthesis. Beverly Hills,
  CA Sage.

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...while, simultaneously, a scientific paradigm
for research synthesis emerged

• 1971 K. Feldman. Using the work of others Some
  observations on reviewing and integrating.
  Sociology of Education, 4, 86-102.
• 1971 R. Light P. Smith. Accumulating evidence
  Procedures for resolving contradictions among
  research studies. Harvard Educational Review, 41,
  429-471.
• 1980 G. Jackson. Methods for integrative
  reviews. Review of Educational Research, 50,
  438-460.

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...while, simultaneously, a scientific paradigm
for research synthesis emerged

• 1982 H. Cooper. Scientific guidelines for
  conducting integrative research reviews. Review
  of Educational Research, 52, 291-302.
• the integration of separate research projects
  involves scientific inferences as central to the
  validity of knowledge as the inferences made in
  primary research. (p.291)
• Most important, the methodological choices at
  each review stage may engender threats to the
  validity of the reviews conclusions. (p.292)
• Because of the increasing role that reviews play
  in our definition of knowledge, it seems that
  these adjustments in procedures are inevitable if
  behavioral scientists hope to retain their claim
  to objectivity. (P.301)

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The Integrative Review Conceptualized as a
Research Project

• Stage of a Research Synthesis
• Problem Formulation
• Data Collection
• Data Evaluation
• Data Analysis
• Public Presentation

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The Integrative Review Conceptualized as a
Research Project

• Characteristics of Each Stage
• Research Question Asked
• Primary Function in Review
• Procedural Differences That Create Variation in
  Review Conclusions
• Sources of Potential Invalidity in Review
  Conclusion

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The first texts on scientific research synthesis
appeared shortly thereafter

• 1984 Harris Cooper. The integrative research
  review A systematic approach. Beverly Hills, CA
  Sage.
• 1984 Richard Light David Pillemer. Summing Up
  The Science of Research Reviewing. Cambridge, MA
  Harvard University Press.

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These were followed by other excellent texts

• Some treat it from the perspective of particular
  research design conceptualizations
• Eddy, Hasselblad Shachter, 1992 Mullen, 1989
• Some are tied to particular software packages
• Johnson, 1989 Bushman Wang, 1999
• Some of which treated research synthesis
  generally
• Cooper Hedges, 1994 Lipsey Wilson, 2001
• And some look at potential future developments in
  research synthesis
• Wachter Straf, 1990 Cook, et.al., 1992

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What is a C2 Review Protocol?

• A C2 Review Protocol is a document that
• Sets out the reviewers intentions with regard to
  the topic and the methods to be used in carrying
  out a proposed review
• Is meant for inclusion in the Campbell Database
  of Systematic Reviews

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What should a C2 Protocol contain?

1. Cover Sheet
2. Background for the Review
3. Objectives for the Review

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What should a C2 Protocol contain?

• Methods
• Criteria for inclusion and exclusion of studies
  in the review
• Search strategy for identification of relevant
  studies
• Description of methods used in the component
  studies
• Criteria for determination of independent
  findings
• Details of study coding categories
• Statistical procedures and conventions
• Treatment of qualitative research

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What should a C2 Protocol contain?

1. Timeframe
2. Plans for Updating the Review
3. Acknowledgements
4. Statement Concerning Conflict of Interest
5. References
6. Tables

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What are the key aspects of methods in C2 Reviews?

• Criteria for inclusion and exclusion of studies
  in the review
• Search strategy for identification of relevant
  studies
• Description of methods used in primary research
• Criteria for determining independent findings

24
What are the key aspects of methods in C2 Reviews?

• Details of coding of study characteristics
• Statistical procedures and conventions
• Treatment of qualitative research

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What is the major source of bias in systematic
reviews?
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Selection biases due to systematic non-inclusion
of studies that give different results than other
studies

• Non-inclusion may happen because
• The studies were never identified
• The studies were identified, but never retrieved
• Bias exists in evaluation of studies for
  inclusion

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Selection biases due to systematic non-inclusion
of studies that give different results than other
studies

• A particularly important source of selection bias
  is publication bias associated with non-inclusion
  of studies with statistically insignificant
  results
• Publication selection effects can produce very
  large biases

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Such biases are problematic because they do not
cancel across studies

• A systematic review that does not control for
  selection bias may be just as biased as a single
  study
• However the review may be more misleading because
  it seems to be more precise

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How are study results used in systematic reviews?
30
Study results are usually represented
quantitatively as effect sizes

• Effect sizes are chosen to be comparable (to mean
  the same thing) across all of the studies in the
  review.
• Sometimes the effect size will be as simple as
  the raw mean difference between the treatment and
  control groups

31
Study results are usually represented
quantitatively as effect sizes

• However, when the outcome is measure by different
  instruments in different studies, the raw mean
  difference may not be comparable across studies.
  In such cases, standardized effect size may be
  used.
• The standardized mean difference (the raw mean
  difference divided by the standard deviation) is
  often used as an effect size measure
• The correlation coefficient is also used as an
  effect size measure

32
Study results are usually represented
quantitatively as effect sizes

• When studies have dichotomous outcomes, other
  effect sizes are typically used
• The odds ratio between treatment and control
  groups
• The rate ratio (ratio of proportions) between
  treatment and control groups
• The rate difference (difference in proportions)
  between treatment and control groups

33
Study results are usually represented
quantitatively as effect sizes

• When studies use a quantitative independent
  variable, raw regression coefficients or
  partially or fully standardized regression
  coefficients can be used as effect sizes.

34
Study results are usually represented
quantitatively as effect sizes

• In rare cases, p-values may be used to represent
  study results.

35
Why do we need special methods for systematic
reviews?

• Cant we just see how many studies found results?
• We usually interpret studies by determining
  whether they found an effect that was big enough
  to be statistically significant.
• We could just see if a large proportion of
  studies found the effect.

36
Why do we need special methods for systematic
reviews?

• Such a strategy is usually called vote-counting.
  Each study metaphorically casts a vote for or
  against effectiveness of the treatment

37
Why do we need special methods for systematic
reviews?

• Intuitive though it may be, vote counting can be
  shown to have terrible properties
• Vote counting has low power it often fails to
  find effects even when they exist
• The power doesnt necessarily increase, even as
  the amount of evidence (the number of studies
  increases)
• In fact, the chance that vote counting detects
  effects that exist in all studies may tend to
  zero as the amount of evidence increases!

38
Why do we need special methods for systematic
reviews?

• Vote counting also gives little insight about the
  size of effects or the consistency of effects
  across studies.

39
Are the effect sizes from every study equal?

• Even if every study in the review is equally free
  of bias, the effect sizes do not contain the same
  amount of information.

40
Are the effect sizes from every study equal?

• Sample size usually varies substantially from
  study to study
• Large studies provide more precise information
  about effect size than small studies
• Large variation in sample sizes and therefore
  large variation in precision across studies, is
  common in systematic reviews

41
Are the effect sizes from every study equal?

• The precision of a studys effect size is
  characterized by its sampling error variance
• Sampling error variances can usually be computed
  from formulas involving sample size and effect
  size

42
Are the effect sizes from every study equal?

• Systematic reviews often contain a graphical
  presentation of each studys effect size and
  precision, called a Forrest plot.

43
Are the effect sizes from every study equal?

• A Forrest plot gives each studys effect size and
  a 95 confidence interval for the effect
• The width of the confidence interval indicates
  the uncertainty of a studys effect size estimate

44
Are the effect sizes from every study equal?

• Often there is a dot denoting the effect size
  whose area corresponds to the relative sample
  size
• Overlap between the confidence intervals
  represents consistency of the effect sizes across
  studies

45
How are the results combined across studies?

• Effect sizes are usually combined across studies
  by averaging.
• Since effect sizes usually differ in precision,
  we usually want to give more weight to studies
  with greater precision (that is smaller sampling
  error variance)

46
How are the results combined across studies?

• Effect sizes are usually combined across This
  leads to a weighted average of the form
• ? wi Ti
• ? wi
• Where the Ti are the effect sizes and the weights
  wi are the inverses of the sampling error
  variances

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How are the results combined across studies?

• The weighted average has precision (sampling
  error variance) proportional to the inverse of
  the sum of the weights
• _1 _
• ? wi

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Is the average effect size the only important
summary?

• Average is important, but variation in effect
  sizes across studies is important too.
• The variation we care about is the degree to
  which the true effect sizes differ across
  studies
• Total variation Sampling error variation True
  variation

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Is the average effect size the only important
summary?

• The standard deviation of the effect sizes
  measures total variation, which includes sampling
  error variation and true variation in effect
  sizes.

50
Is the average effect size the only important
summary?

• There are two strategies for assessing true
  variation in effect sizes across studies
• Tests of homogeneity, which are statistical tests
  of the hypothesis that the true effects are equal
  across studies
• Estimates of the between-study variance component

51
Is the average effect size the only important
summary?

• The between-studies variance component is a
  quantitative estimate of true effect size
  variation across studies.
• The homogeneity test is a test that the variance
  component is zero.

52
How do we account for variation in effects across
studies?

• We account for variation across studies by using
  statistical models.
• Just as in primary research there are basically
  two modeling approaches
• Analogues to Analysis of Variance
• Analogues to Multiple Regression

53
How do we account for variation in effects across
studies?

• Analogues to Analysis of Variance allow us to
  compare groups of studies, for example whether
  one group of studies (such as studies conducted
  in the US) has a different average effect than
  another (such as studies conducted in Europe).

54
How do we account for variation in effects across
studies?

• Analogues to Multiple Regression allow us to
  determine the relation of a quantitative study
  characteristic (such as treatment intensity or
  duration) and effect size.

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How do we account for variation in effects across
studies?

• It is important to recognize that comparisons
  among groups of experiments are observational
  (correlational) studies.

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What about studies that have many results?

• Sometimes a study produces many results that
  could lead to the computation of many effect
  sizes. How should each effect size be treated?

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What about studies that have many results?

• The answer depends on whether each result (each
  effect size is computed from data on different
  individuals.
• Effect sizes computed from the same individuals
  (e.g., from different outcome measures from the
  same people or by comparing different groups to
  the same control groups) are statistically
  dependent

58
What about studies that have many results?

• Statistically dependent effect sizes do not
  contain independent information, therefore two
  dependent effect sizes contain less (often much
  less) information than two independent effect
  sizes, even if they have the same sampling error
  variance

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What about studies that have many results?

• Effect sizes computed from different individuals
  are statistically independent and therefore can
  be treated for most purposes as if they came from
  different studies

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What about studies that have many results?

• We usually try to obtain statistically
  independent effect sizes because the analysis and
  interpretation is much simpler.

61
How do we check on the robustness of findings in
systematic reviews?

• It is critical to check the robustness of
  findings by sensitivity analyses of various
  kinds.
• Sensitivity analyses check the effect of various
  choices of methods made in review.

62
How do we check on the robustness of findings in
systematic reviews?

• Important kinds of sensitivity analyses include
  examination of the impact kind
• Particular studies on results of the review
• Synthesis methods on results of the review
• Primary study methodology on results of the
  review
• Study heterogeneity on results of the review
• Publication bias on results of the review

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How do we check on the robustness of findings in
systematic reviews?

• Sensitivity analyses should be tailored to the
  systematic review at hand.
• Different sensitivity analyses will be
  appropriate for reviews in different areas.

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What are the currently established C2 methods
groups?
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The Statistics Group

• Will focus primarily on statistical methods used
  to develop summary indicators of study results
  and how to combine these across studies
• The Statistics group will provide
• advise to review groups and the C2 Steering
  Committee on statistical methods
• training and support
• research on statistical methods
• monitor the quality of statistical aspects of C2
  reviews
• a forum for discussion of statistical issues

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The Quasi-Experimental Design Group

• Will focus primarily on critically assessing the
  power and limitations of trials which do not use
  random assignments
• These designs will be assessed with regard to
  validity and generalizability
• The group will also refine methods of
  meta-analysis for non-randomized trials
• The group will make recommendations to C2
  regarding software and inclusion of
  non-randomized studies in the Campbell Library

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The Process and Implementation Group

• Will focus primarily on both quantitative and
  qualitative methods for uncovering those parts of
  the implementation process that might influence
  the success or failure of an intervention
• These might include the population under study,
  characteristics of the intervention itself and
  the non-intervention condition, the setting, and
  the outcome variables

68
The Editorial Review Group

• Will serve as the editorial team for reviews
  undertaken by other methods groups

69
What future C2 methods groups might be
established?
70
Literature Searching Date Retrieval

• Publication bias
• Prospective registers
• Coding techniques and reliability

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Research Design

• Research quality judgments
• Cluster randomized trials

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Statistical Issues

• Effect size metrics
• Stochastically dependent effect sizes
• Explanatory models
• Fixed, random, and multilevel effects
• Missing data