The volume of scientific literature has expanded exponentially in recent decades. With a broader and more diverse literature base than ever before in just about every subdiscipline, methods capable of providing principled syntheses of key findings have never been in higher demand. Meta-analysis remains the gold standard for synthesizing findings across studies with diverse outcomes. Concurrently, we have witnessed the rise of Bayesian approaches to estimation and hypothesis testing, providing robust ways to handle sparse data and integrate prior knowledge—advantages especially valuable to the intrepid meta-analyst. One area particularly well-suited to this approach is clinical epidemiology, where understanding the distribution of a disorder across different populations informs basic research and plays an important role in public health. In this talk, I describe lessons I have learned fitting meta-analytic models throughout my career, with an emphasis on epidemiological applications. I also highlight challenges (and a recent multivariate solution) related to estimating the prevalence of certain disorder categories (e.g., how many people in a typical sample have at least one anxiety disorder?). My hope is that these reflections will offer practical guidance for researchers aiming to produce rigorous, impactful syntheses in an era of abundant data.
Dr. Jonathan Fawcett is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Memorial University of Newfoundland, with a special focus on memory control and an interest in quantitative methods. As the principal investigator of the NeuroFog Laboratory, Dr. Fawcett's research centers on understanding the mechanisms of controlling unwanted memories, blending his research expertise in cognitive and clinical psychology. He is regarded as a world expert on intentional forgetting and presently leads a consortium of 70 laboratories worldwide studying this topic. He also has a wealth of experience in meta-analytic methods, which he has applied most recently to estimating the prevalence of psychiatric disorders across a variety of populations. Dr. Fawcett's work has been published in top journals, spanning multiple disciplines, including Nature Human Behaviour, Nature Reviews Psychology, the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Psychological Medicine, the Journal of Psychiatric Research, and the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
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