Meta-Analysis of Social Science Research

This article provides concise, nontechnical, step-by-step guidelines on how to conduct a modern meta-analysis, especially in social sciences. We treat publication bias, p-hacking, and systematic heterogeneity as phenomena meta-analysts must always confront. To this end, we provide concrete methodological recommendations. Meta-analysis methods have advanced notably over the last few years. Yet many meta-analyses still rely on outdated approaches, some ignoring publication bias and systematic heterogeneity. While limitations persist, recently developed techniques allow robust inference even in the face of formidable problems in the underlying empirical literature. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the state of the art in a way accessible to aspiring meta-analysts in any field. We also discuss how meta-analysts can use advances in artificial intelligence to work more efficiently.

Reference: Zuzana Irsova, Hristos Doucouliagos, Tomas Havranek, and T. D. Stanley (2024): "Meta-Analysis of Social Science Research: A Practitioner’s Guide." Journal of Economic Surveys 38(5): 1547-1566.

Update: three principles of meta-analysis, as of 2026:

1. Correct for publication bias. RoBMA, by Bartos, Maier, and Wagenmakers.
2. Correct for p-hacking. MAIVE (how to run it), by Irsova et al., and Mathur’s RTMA.
3. Cluster by study. CR2 standard errors, by Pustejovsky and Tipton.

The guide is as published in 2024. These are the site’s current three, and they are the same three stated on the home page.

The guide is also taught as a course. The most recent one was two days for policy economists at Tillväxtanalys, the Swedish Agency for Growth Policy Analysis, in Stockholm on 28 and 29 August 2025. The programme gives the running order and says which sessions are hands-on in Stata and in R.

One-click meta-analysis in your browser: EasyMeta.org How to run MAIVE, on real data

@article{irsova2024guidelines,
  author  = {Zuzana Irsova and Hristos Doucouliagos and Tomas Havranek and T. D. Stanley},
  title   = {Meta-Analysis of Social Science Research: A Practitioner’s Guide},
  journal = {Journal of Economic Surveys},
  year    = {2024},
  doi     = {10.1111/joes.12595},
}