Matrix Summaries Improve Research Reports: Secondary Analyses Using Published Literature

Abstract

Correlation matrices and standard deviations are the building blocks of many of the commonly conducted analyses in published research, and AERA and APA reporting standards recommend their inclusion when reporting research results. The authors argue that the inclusion of correlation/covariance matrices, standard deviations, and means can enhance findings in education and psychology by permitting secondary researchers to (a) conduct commonly utilized traditional univariate and multivariate analyses not initially performed in primary studies, (b) produce effect sizes and other statistics not included in prior published literature, and (c) conduct analyses once difficult to perform. Furthermore, meta-analytic thinking is encouraged when researchers have the ability to conduct the same analyses on multiple studies and then compare these findings across studies.