After you answer them, print out your answers and hand them in or send them to your instructor by email. Remember to do one set of answers for each of two articles. This exercise has given you the opportunity to examine the original research that forms the basis of meta-analysis, a research method that analyzes prior research on a specific topic. Like every other type of research article, a meta-analysis is only as good as the author's analysis of the original research. In addition, you can see how news reports about research may also be misleading.
Journalists often seize on the most dramatic pronouncement in a research report.
The public does not have the benefit of reading the entire report and the headline-grabbing pronouncements in context. So, when you see or hear news reports about research in an area that interests you, see if you can find references to the source within the news report. Then go online and search for it. If the news report does not give you enough information, send an email to the author of the article. You can find this by going to the news source's web site, most of which have links to staff email addresses.