Blog

Hello and welcome! If you are interested in meta-analysis and evidence synthesis, and want to use Bayesian statistical modelling to tackle challenges in the evidence that just don’t fit into a classic calculation like the DerSimonian-Laird, then this is YOUR network.

Bayesian meta-analysis (BMA) is a research method growing rapidly in popularity. A lot of the time, it is used for network meta-analysis but it can be applied to many other problems too. Researchers who are trying out BMA are scattered all over the world, and with no single society, conference or journal for it (yet!), you probably feel like you spend a lot of time doing detective work: trying to work out what others did previously, and how to adapt that to your needs.

We started this up in September 2021 to provide a place where everyone working with BMA, or keen to get into it, come share ideas and learn from each other. This is where you can ask for advice on how to analyse your evidence base, or about the software and algorithms, or about how to communicate it to your audience.

There is a blog for posts of lasting interest, where we are going to get some deep dives into aspects of BMA from those who have been there and done it. There’s also a forum for software and coding, and another for theory. It’s in the forums that you can pose a question and answer other people’s questions. BMA is emerging and developing, so we’re all going to learn a lot together, and no question is too basic to ask.

The website is run by volunteer administrators in our spare time, and is not-for-profit. If you would like to help too, head over to the Management forum.