Share your perspective on what it means to be a part of one Body, the Body of Christ.

It is not possible to live a Christian life by yourself. The idea of living in seclusion was never intended for us. Our connection to one another in Christ is a gift from God, and we are dependent on one another. The human body is the illustration that Paul gives in the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians. There are a variety of pieces that make up our one body. Every portion of the body has a certain purpose and is dependent on the other parts in order to perform its duties. At the end of this description of the body and its many parts with many functions, he says, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” Consider the consequences that arise when a section of your body sustains an injury. It permeates every part of your body. Every single component of your body is aware of the fact that you have thrown your back out. During times of difficulty or suffering, the knowledge that we are not alone is one of the most significant gifts that the body of Christ bestows upon us. This is something that the body not only feels with you but also prays for you, loves you, and cares for you.

Identify and then share a time when you had to interact with someone very different from yourself.

Despite the fact that I often engage in conversations with individuals that are extremely different from myself, a specific example of this is the person I work with. I make every effort to avoid her and keep our conversations to a minimum, as I find it difficult to enjoy her company. She has a reputation for being quite impolite, and she has shown me disrespect in the past. I would rather keep my views to myself and avoid causing any difficulties at work, but she is the complete opposite. In situations when I do not like someone, particularly someone I work with, I make an effort to treat them with kindness and respect.

Samantha

Being a part of the Body of Christ means recognizing that I am a part of something larger than myself. My life skills and interests differ from those around me, but we all work together to serve God and represent Him to others. Sometimes, it is difficult to understand those who are different from us, but we are all created to fill different roles. Where it is not my strength to go out and talk with many new people or host a bunch of people at my house, I am able to quickly find someone who may feel lost in the crowd and ensure that they individually feel welcome.

My sister-in-law is now one of my best friends, but in 2020, she moved into my parent’s house while she and my brother were engaged. They wanted to spend time together, so with all the restrictions, it made sense for her to stay at our house for a few months. But this meant that for a few months, she and I had to share a room and a bathroom. While I had considered her a great friend and a perfect partner for my brother, I did not consider her the perfect roommate for me. We are both messy people, but we quickly got irritated by each other’s mess. Where she is soft-spoken, I’m pretty loud. I tend to be overly blunt in conflict, and she is more passive-aggressive. As the only girl in my family, I had never shared a room since I was 5, but she had been sharing a room her whole life. It also didn’t help that because it was COVID, we weren’t only sharing a bedroom but were with each other almost every moment of the day. We were able to figure it out, and we knew it was only temporary, so we are now able to laugh about it. I’m lucky to have a sister-in-law who feels more like a regular sister, and it was a good opportunity for me to live with someone unlike me. I feel that I grew a lot in my understanding of others.

Kathryn

Describe the value and purpose of meta-analyses.

“Meta-analyses and systematic reviews sit at the top of the evidence-based pyramid” (Intro to Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analysis, 2014). What gives these studies credibility and value is how they merge findings from multiple independent studies. This can bring additional findings when condensing information, resolve discrepancies (Intro to Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analysis, 2014), bring new insight, add strength to recommendations, and help guide future research (Shorten & Shorten, 2012). Meta-analysis is more than combining data to see a larger participant pool; researchers use systematic methods to pull better data by giving more weight to more quality independent projects compared to smaller, lesser-known projects (Shorten & Shorten, 2012).

How does one determine how many research studies need to be included in a meta-analysis? What might be an appropriate minimum number, for example, or should that be the guiding element? If not the number of research studies, what should be the guiding element?

A meta-analysis study should first have a defined research question and set participant criteria before the step of looking for research studies. The defined question and criteria will allow researchers to know what they need to look for in other studies without wasting time on not related information. There is not a minimum guide for meta-analysis or systematic reviews, but research should be thorough. The minimum number of studies will be determined by the question and participant criteria. If many studies have been done, then meta-analysis should include information from published research and unpublished studies as they are located.

A guiding element should be the attempt to limit bias from combining previous studies. This is why it is important to include non-published information as they often represent negative results; most published studies are positive. Another way to limit bias is to complete meta-analysis projects with a team who determine what studies should be included (Intro to Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analysis, 2014). Along with the goal of limiting biases, the other guiding light is to present accurate results that fully represent the previous studies on the research question.

What questions do you have about meta-analysis?

· Can someone simply describe a forest plot?

· How would you decide which unpublished studies are of good enough quality to be included in a systematic review?

References

Intro to Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses. (2014). [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB9pbHqUs5c

Shorten, A., & Shorten, B. (2012). What is meta-analysis? Evidence Based Nursing, 16(1), 3–4. https://doi.org/10.1136/eb-2012-101118

Ashley

Meta-analysis is the process of merging the findings or results of studies related to a particular topic using the data from the studies. There is usually systematic accounting for differences in sample size. It tests how sensitive findings may be to its own systematic review protocol. The value and purpose of meta-analyses is to decide the best information or evidence regarding a research question or decision. When a meta-analysis has been conducted, this can be achieved. Meta-analysis is vital, providing the most dependable information and feedback to inform research. There are five steps involved in the meta-analysis process, and that includes identifying a research question, a systematic review addressing the research question and identifying all relevant quality literature, drawing out the data from the literature selected and putting together all the necessary data, calculating appropriate measures from each study for further analysis such as standardizing units of measurements in each study and finally selecting and applying an appropriate model to compare effect sizes across different studies ( Shorten & Shorten, 2013). Combining studies via meta-analysis helps make an informed decision on the usefulness of what is being questioned. The best way to determine how many research studies should be included in a meta-analysis is to outline your specific goals, which helps narrow the search down. For example, the article Ingroup Favoritism and Cooperation outlines three goals regarding intergroup discrimination, analyzing effect sizes from studies that compare with their topic. They coded study characteristics that potentially confound hypothesis testing. In this study, certain criteria were considered, such as a certain age range and sufficient statistical detail to calculate the effect size of interest. Articles not completely relating to every or most aspects of the topic were excluded (Balliet et al.,2014); however, the number is not the most important factor to consider. Two or more studies are sufficient as long as they can be purposefully pooled and the results are adequately alike. That should be the guiding element, along with the interventions and comparators being alike and whether the correct data is available for the included studies (Ryan, 2016). This is what helps to determine the number of studies to include. I have some questions regarding meta-analysis: What are the major cons of using meta-analysis? What is a well-known outstanding meta-analysis? What are some ways to tackle the challenges involved in attempting a meta-analysis? Does doing meta-analysis always prove to be worth doing?

References Balliet, D., Wu, J., & De Dreu, C. K. W. (2014). Ingroup favoritism in cooperation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140(6), 1556–1581. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037737

Ryan R; Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group. (2016) ‘Cochrane Consumers and Communication Group: meta-analysis. http://cccrg.cochrane.org (accessed 5 July 2024)

Shorten, A. & Shorten, B. (2013). What is Meta-Analysis? Research Made Simple. Evidence-based nursing. Vol. 16 Number 1, pages 3,4

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