MERIT: Meta-Evaluation and Research Integration Team

Team Members:
Dr Guanxiong HUANG
Dr Marko SKORIC
Dr Ye SUN (Team Coordinator)
Dr Xiaohui WANG
Prof Jonathan ZHU

Keywords:
meta-analysis, systematic reviews, meta-science, meta-research, knowledge graphs, evidence synthesis, evidence evaluation

Introduction
Systematic evidence synthesis and evaluation is critical to knowledge accumulation for a credible science. The Team seeks to advance the knowledge and practice of two types of "meta" research:  

• Evidence Synthesis.
  including meta-analysis, systematic reviews, knowledge graphs, ensemble modeling, etc.
• Evidence Evaluation
  including current discussions and research under the umbrella of meta-science and meta-research.

The Team will organize research and engagement activities along these four tracks:

• conducting meta-level research (e.g., initiating and collaborating on research projects and grant applications);
• providing training to interested students and faculty through workshops;
• organizing scholarly exchange events (e.g., research talks, symposiums, conferences);
• providing outreach/consulting services to government, nonprofitable or commercial organizations on synthesis and evaluation of domain-specific research evidence.

Key Publications/Grants

Evidence synthesis:
Huang, G., & Xu, J. (accepted). Disentangling the effects of temporal framing on risk perception, attitude, behavioral intention, and behavior: A multilevel meta-analysis. Communication Research.

Wang, X., Shi, J., & Kong, H. (2021). Online health information seeking: A review and meta-analysis. Health Communication, 36(10), 1163-1175.

Ratcliff, C. L.*, & Sun, Y.* (2020). Overcoming resistance through narrative communication: Findings from a meta-analytic review. Human Communication Research, 46(4), 412 - 443. (*equal author contributions)

Zhu, J. J. H., Peng, T.-Q., & Zhao, W. X. (2019). Assessing conceptual and empirical contributions of social media research based on knowledge graph. HKRGC GRF11505119.

Skoric, M. M., Zhu, Q., Goh, D., & Pang, N. (2016). Social media and citizen engagement: A meta-analytic review. New Media & Society, 18(9), 1817-839. 

Sun, Y., Pan, Z., & Shen, L. (2008). Understanding the third-person perception: Evidence from a meta-analysis. Journal of Communication, 58, 280-300. DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2008.00385.x

 

Evidence evaluation:
Tobias, D. & Sun, Y. (2021). Does the privacy paradox exist? Comment on Yu et al.’s (2020) meta-analysis. Meta-Psychology, 5. 10.15626/mp.2020.2711

Sun, Y., & Pan, Z. (2020). Not published is not perished: Addressing publication bias in meta-analytic studies in communication. Human Communication Research, 46(2-3), 300-321.