Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)-Based Meta-Analysis

Structural equation modeling (SEM) and meta-analysis are two popular techniques in the behavioral, medical, and social sciences. They have their own research communities, terminologies, models, software packages, and even journals. This chapter introduces SEM-based meta-analysis, an approach to conduct meta-analyses using the SEM framework. By conceptualizing studies in a meta-analysis as subjects in a structural equation model, univariate, multivariate, and three-level meta-analyses can be fitted as structural equation models using definition variables. We will review fixed-, random-, and mixed-effects models using the SEM framework. Examples will be used to illustrate the procedures using the metaSEM and OpenMx packages in R. This chapter closes with a discussion of some future directions for research.