Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, 43 Dulwich Common, London, UK.
Cogn Behav Ther. 2009;38(2):83-90. doi: 10.1080/16506070802675239.
Meta-analysis can be valuable if it heeds its originators' caution that intimate communing with the data is essential. A critique of the authors' own meta-analysis shows that the danger of overly broad conclusions could be reduced by attention to specificities and awareness of potentially hidden sources of variance. Conclusions from even good meta-analyses are best placed in perspective, along with naturalistic reviews, open studies, and even anecdotes to yield a fair picture of what computer-aided psychotherapy or any other treatment can achieve under varying conditions. The most realistic picture comes from zooming in and out and melding meta-analyses with further types of evidence.
如果元分析能够听从其创立者的警告，即与数据进行深入交流至关重要，那么它将具有很大的价值。对作者自己的元分析的批评表明，通过关注具体问题并意识到潜在的方差来源，可能会减少得出过于宽泛结论的危险。即使是好的元分析的结论，也最好与自然主义评论、开放研究，甚至轶事一起放在适当的背景下，以更全面地了解计算机辅助心理治疗或任何其他治疗在不同条件下所能达到的效果。最现实的情况是通过缩放和融合元分析与其他类型的证据来实现。
