The Stronger By Science Podcast Meta-Analysis Errors; Motivation and Behavior Change
Meta-Analyses Depend On Data And Methods
- Meta-analyses are powerful but only as reliable as their data and calculations.
- A flawed meta can mislead even if it sits atop the evidence hierarchy.
The First Meta-Analysis Was A Public Feud
- Eric recounts the historical spat between Almroth Wright and Karl Pearson over the typhoid vaccine.
- Pearson's early meta analysis suffered from poor data and limited computation, altering public health judgment.
Top-Cited Meta Studies Still Contain Errors
- Cadlec et al. screened the 20 most-cited strength meta-analyses for errors and found many problems.
- Using highly cited studies likely understates current error prevalence given improving methods over time.
In today’s episode, Greg and Eric discuss a new study reporting that 85% of highly cited meta-analyses in the field of strength and conditioning research contain at least one statistical error. The conversation covers common meta-analysis errors, how to spot them, and how to critically interpret meta-analyses. After that, Eric presents a segment on motivation and behavior change. He begins by reviewing evidence-based goal setting strategies, then discusses how we can leverage self-determination theory to get motivated to pursue our goals, and how we can lean on the COM-B (capability, opportunity, motivation, behavior) model to change behaviors in accordance with our goals. This leads to a unified, comprehensive, evidence-based model that covers goal setting, motivation, and behavior change from start to finish.
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TIME STAMPS
Intro/Announcements (0:00)
Origins of meta-analyses (6:15)
New study on meta-analysis errors (11:53)
The most common errors (17:10)
Interpretation and conclusions (29:22)
Defining “motivation” (50:11)
Goal setting (52:51)
- https://www.strongerbyscience.com/goal-setting/
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01879/full
Motivation (1:00:43)
Self-determination theory (1:06:07)
- https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/research/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11392867/
- https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2021-68513-001
Psychological needs (competence, relatedness, autonomy) (1:11:18)
The COM-B model of behavior change (1:29:19)
Practical application: a unified model combining goal hierarchies, self-determination theory, and the COM-B model of behavior change (1:37:30)
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