AN EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE METHODS FOR COMPUTING STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE EFFECT SIZE

Many research articles do not report means and standard deviations nec essary to calculate the standardized mean difference effect size (SMDE S). Consequently, many researchers resort to the use of indirect alter native methods of computing SMDES when using meta-analysis techniques to summarize the results of previous research. In this study, the resu lts obtained with such indirect calculations were compared with the re sults obtained from direct calculations. The authors concluded that in most cases, alternative methods for calculating SMDES yield very comp arable results and are beneficial to use.