Apologies for cross-posting
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The Avon Local Group of the Royal Statistical Society will be meeting
again on the 16th October 2007.
The theme of the meeting will be ‘Meta-analysis in health services
research”
with speakers:Jonathan Sterne (Bristol) and George Davey-Smith (Bristol)
WHEN: 16/10/07: 16:00 - 17:00 (Tea and coffee served from 15:30)
WHERE: Neville Butler lecture theatre at ALSPAC, Tyndall Avenue, on the
main university campus, Bristol. (see map at
http://www.bris.ac.uk/university/maps/precinct-inter.html)
Organiser: Nicky Welton ([log in to unmask])
Admission: The meeting is open to all and free of charge
Titles and abstracts will soon be available at our new website as well as
below
Our website has now been re-located at the Centre of Multilevel Modelling
and will be posting you the details soon.
Title: Investigating and dealing with bias in randomized trials and meta-
analyses, by J. Sterne
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Abstract: There is increasing empirical evidence that particular flaws in
the conduct
of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) lead to bias in intervention effect
estimates, as well as increasing between-trial heterogeneity. This
literature is based on "meta-epidemiological" studies, in which collections
of meta-analyses are used to examine associations between trial
characteristics and intervention effect estimates. I will review this
empirical evidence, describe a project to combine it in a single database,
and describe statistical methods that might use existing evidence to
correct for bias in new meta-analyses.
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Title: Genetic meta-analysis and mendelian randomization by George Davey-
Smith
Abstract: Genetic association studies constitute a huge and growing
component of observational epidemiological data. They have particular
value in being able to contribute to understanding causal associations,
but have a poor history of replication. Particular issues with respect to
genetic associations are the small effect sizes (requiring large sample
sizes) but also a general lack of confounding and bias. This makes meta-
analysis of genetic association studies more similar to meta-analyses of
randomised controlled trials then meta-analyses in many observational
settings. These issues will be discussed, as will the application of meta-
analyses of genetic association studies to understanding the causal nature
of environmental exposures.
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