Meta-Analytic Procedures for Career and Technical Education Post-secondary Researchers and Practitioners

Abstract

Meta-analytic studies are syntheses of literature in which researchers use statistical means to summarize the findings presented across primary studies. They are of great interest in the fields of medicine and social sciences with numerous examples published in peer-reviewed journals. However, it appears that career and technical education (CTE) researchers are either not performing these research syntheses, or are not publishing their findings. Thus, there are three purposes to this manuscript. The first is to present CTE researchers and practitioners with a rationale as to why meta-analyses should be performed. The second is to provide guidelines that researchers and practitioners use to perform their own meta-analyses. The third is to provide suggestions that researchers and practitioners can use to disseminate the results of their meta-analyses. The manuscript concludes with a listing of suggested areas for future research.

Is Reading Comprehension Associated With Mathematics Skills: A Meta-Analysis Research

“…The mean effect size of reading comprehension on participants' mathematics skills was r = .50, with a 95 percent confidence interval varying between .47 and .52. This statistically significant value revealed that reading comprehension had a large effect size on mathematics skills of K-12 students based on Cohen's ( 2007) criteria (Oh-Young et al, 2018).…”

Making Sense of the Buzz: A Systematic Review of "STEM" in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Education Literature

“…We systematically employed document analysis guided by the objectives to identify emergent themes that allowed for development of a framework for the topic. Borenstein et al (2009) defined a systematic review as the process of synthesizing results by constructing a thematic story to fit the literature base (Oh-Young et al, 2018). Following recommendations of Borenstein et al (2009), our systematic review included listing the search criteria, explaining methodologies for how the studies were evaluated and analyzed, and describing the characteristics of the studies in a summary table.…”

“…We described our search criteria, methods of analysis, and provided direct quotations from the articles to establish dependability. The lead researcher oversaw the entire process as an additional measure to ensure consistency in coding (Oh-Young et al, 2018).…”

“…So STEM is usually interpreted to examples of meta-analyses in undergraduate education contexts have demonstrated the effectiveness of active learning over lecture format for STEM students (Freeman et al, 2014) and gains in critical-thinking skills for college students (Huber & Kuncel, 2016). Meta-analyses are rare in agricultural education research (a search of prominent journals yielded few examples); however, this approach has been promoted as a promising practice for improving research in career and technical education (Gordon, McClain, Kim, & Maldonado, 2010;Oh-Young, Gordon, Xing, & Filler, 2018). Such techniques require a level of consistency in the literature that the field currently lacks.…”

A Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Parental Involvement on Students’ Academic Achievement

“…Pearson correlation coefficient (r = ES) was calculated as the effect size of each independent study. In the interpretation of the effect sizes, value ranges offered by Cohen (1992) and Rosenthal (1996) were used (Oh-Young, Gordon, Xing & Filler, 2018). Table 2 provides ES = r interpretation value ranges.…”