Meta-analysis

A statistical procedure frequently used in medicine, based on the summarized evaluation of various primary examinations. In a meta-analysis, the empirical individual results of content-wise homogeneous primary studies are combined into an overall result with the aim of finding out whether an effect exists at all and how great it is. In contrast to the method of meta-analysis, qualitative methods are used, in which subjective assessment attempts to draw conclusions from the content of the primary studies. Here, of course, an erroneous conclusion or evaluation of the result is much more common than with a meta-analysis approach.