Title
Detecting bias in meta-analyses of distance education research: big pictures we can rely on
Source of Publication
Distance Education
Abstract
© 2014, © 2014 Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia, Inc. This article has two interrelated purposes. The first is to explain how various forms of bias, if introduced during any stage of a meta-analysis, can provide the consumer with a misimpression of the state of a research literature. Five of the most important bias-producing aspects of a meta-analysis are presented and discussed. Second, armed with this information, we examine 15 meta-analyses of the literatures of distance education (DE), online learning (OL), and blended learning (BL), conducted from 2000 to 2014, with the intention of assessing potential sources of bias in each. All of these meta-analyses address the question: “How do students taking courses through DE, OL, and BL compare to students engaged in pure classroom instruction in terms of learning achievement outcomes?” We argue that questions asked by primary researchers must change to reflect issues that will drive improvements in designing and implementing DE, OL, and BL courses.
Document Type
Article
First Page
271
Last Page
293
Publication Date
1-1-2014
DOI
10.1080/01587919.2015.957433
Recommended Citation
Bernard, Robert M.; Borokhovski, Eugene; and Tamim, Rana M., "Detecting bias in meta-analyses of distance education research: big pictures we can rely on" (2014). Scopus Indexed Articles. 1843.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/scopus-indexed-articles/1843