Jacqueline (Jaki) Yi Tell us a bit about yourself. My name is Jacqueline (Jaki) Yi. I am a Ph.D. candidate studying Clinical-Community Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. I have a Bachelor’s in Science in Applied Psychology from New York University. In my program of research, I use various inquiry methods (e.g., meta-analysis, structural equation modeling, grounded theory qualitative methods, mixed methods) to challenge systemic inequality, foster activism, and improve the wellbeing of individuals and broader society.

Diego G. Campos Tell us a bit about yourself. My name is Diego G. Campos. I am a Ph.D. Candidate at the Centre for Educational Measurement at the University of Oslo (CEMO). I am working with Prof. Ronny Scherer and Prof. Mike Cheung to develop, use, and evaluate meta-analytic approaches to synthesize individual participant data from complex survey studies. We have outstanding educational data from large-scale assessments collected at the national and international levels.

The American Institutes for Research® (AIR®) recently launched the Methods of Synthesis and Integration Center (MOSAIC). The center supports projects that synthesize evidence across multiple studies to inform stakeholders and create evidence-based solutions in education, health, international development, social welfare, and the workforce. At MOSAIC, leading experts in evidence synthesis methodology work to develop state-of-the-art synthesis tools. AIR’s Martyna Citkowicz, Laura Michaelson, David Miller, Josh Polanin, and Ryan Williams lead the center.

Karina G. Diaz Pronouns: she/her/hers Tell us a bit about yourself. My name is Karina Diaz, I’m a research specialist at the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) at the University of Pennsylvania. I’m primarily responsible for the design and execution of quantitative analyses for funded research studies, including efficacy evaluations and large-scale projects with experimental and quasi-experimental designs. Prior to this, I collaborated as a research assistant at the STEPP Center at the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at Northwestern University.

Scientific researchers tend to produce literature on the same topic either to replicate or extend prior studies or due to a lack of awareness of prior evidence (Hedges & Cooper, 2009). Results across studies tend to vary, even when researchers try to replicate studies, due to differences in sample characteristics, research designs, analytic strategies or sampling error (Hedges & Cooper, 2009). Meta-analysis is a set of statistical techniques for synthesizing results from multiple primary studies on a common topic.