Contents
Acknowledgments
The Explosion of Contemporary Science
The Classic - and Inadequate - Solution
A Radical New Approach
A Sampler of Meta-Analytic Achievements
The Value of Meta-Analysis
Attack, Counterattack, and Stalemate
Vote-Counting - A Plausible but Unreliable Way to Sum Up Research
Genesis of Meta-Analysis: Part I
Mining and Smelting the Data
Genesis of Meta-Analysis: Part II
Does Marital and Family Therapy Work?
Second-Level Meta-Analysis
Trying to Stay Sick in Order to Get Well
Between Treatment and Effect: A Rube Goldberg View
Is It True That "Throwing Money at Schools" Does No Good?
Of Universities and Their Boundaries
"Dollars and Sense: Reassessing Hanushek"
Apples and Oranges
Going Public Against Hanushek
What Good Is Homework?
New Knowledge
Sex and Science Achievement
The Bugaboo of Causality
Too Many Studies, Too Few Answers
Second and Other Opinions - and Combined Opinions
The Streptokinase Case
Measures of Outcome
Time and Lives Lost That Could Have Been Saved
Are Big Trials Necessary?
The Surprising Finding of a Large Breast Cancer Meta-Analysis
Meta-Analytic Epiphanies
The Case of the Does-and-Doesn't-Work Vaccine
Central Question
Judging a Stranger in Thirty Seconds
How Widely Is It True?
Thin Slices, Fat Findings
The File-Drawer Problem
The Great Expectancy Effect Controversy
Checking for Leaks
Rehabilitating Juvenile Delinquents: Is It True That Nothing Works?
The Noise-to-Signal Ratio
A Tough Customer Makes a Tough Request
Doing Meta-Analyses for Congress: A Challenging Task
A Meta-Analysis Changes a Senator's Mind
Meta-Analyses and Congressional Policy-Making
Lumpectomy Versus Mastectomy
Into the Black Hole
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - and Lungs, and That's Nothing to Sing About
"More Ways than One to Skin a Cat" - Mark Twain
Elixir of Forecast: Take Minimal Dose
A Few Specific Prophecies
A Parting Word
Appendix by Harris Cooper
Notes
References
Index