Meta-analysis in vocational behavior: A systematic review and recommendations for best practices

Abstract

Meta-analysis is a powerful tool for the synthesis of quantitative empirical research. Overall, the field of vocational behavior has benefited from the results of meta-analyses. Yet, there is still quite a bit to learn about how we can improve the quality of meta-analyses reported in this field of inquiry. In this paper, we systematically review all meta-analyses published in the Journal of Vocational Behavior (JVB) to date. We do so to address two related goals: First, based on guidance from various sources (e.g., the American Psychological Association's meta-analysis reporting standards; MARS), we introduce ten facets of meta-analysis that have particular bearing on statistical conclusion validity. Second, we systematically review meta-analyses published in JVB over the past 32 years, with a particular focus on the methods employed; this review informs a discussion of 19 associated "best practices" for researchers who are considering conducting a meta-analysis in the field of vocational behavior (or in related fields). Thus, this work serves as an important benchmark, indicating where we "have been" and where we "should go," with respect to conducting and reporting meta-analyses on vocational behavior topics.

The Impact of Social Factors on Job Crafting: A Meta-Analysis and Review

“…Notably, since the majority of this field used the JD-R job crafting, which is in line with Rudolph et al (2017) [31], in this meta-analysis, we also tested how social factors related to employees' specific job crafting behaviors (i.e., increasing structural resources, increasing social resources, increasing challenging demands, and reducing hindering demands) as conceptualized by [23].…”

“…To identify as many published and unpublished studies as possible, following the "best practices of literature search" in systematic reviews and meta-analyses [31,74,75], we conducted three sets of literature searches. First, online databases search.…”

“…These journals are recognized as high-quality journals in work and organizational psychology field (see latest Journal Citation Reports, www.webofknowledge.com). These selected journals are also manually searched by previous job crafting meta-analysis [5,7,31]. Finally, we conducted backward search by recognizing three published meta-analytic articles concerning job crafting (i.e., [4,5,7] and checked their references list.…”

Improving Careers Science: Ten Recommendations to Enhance the Credibility of Vocational Behavior Research

“…To enact this, we need to encourage and reward the production of well designed, "high-n" studies based on purposefully broad and representative samples, and the production of studies that triangulate findings across multiple samples and methodologies. To this end, a focus on cumulation will also help to address concerns about sampling (e.g., as meta-analysis is well-geared for addressing questions about generalizability on the basis of sample characteristics; see Rudolph et al, 2020) 2.8. Recommendation #8: Replicate, integrate, and critically examine.…”

“…Indeed, the integrative papers that are contained within this volume are a testament to this, as are the various "annual review" issues (e.g., Vol. 116) and the long-standing publication of meta-analytic reviews (Rudolph et al, 2020). However, broader efforts focused on summarizing evidencebased practice should be advanced, and have been fruitful in other domains (e.g., the U.S. Department of Education's "What Works" clearinghouse; the Center for Evidence Based Management).…”