Installing package not on SSC

[Joe Korkey]

I am trying to install the package 'meta'. I have commands in a file I am trying to use where the command is meta (not sure if that is the package name or not). When I use ssc install meta it says not available at ssc. How do I install this? I have gone to the help but I do not see install instructions there.

[Carlo Lazzaro]

Joe:
have you tried -search metan-?
In addition, -help meta- will point you out to a Stata built-in suite for meta-analysis.

[Nick Cox]

What version of Stata are you using? meta as an official suite was added in Stata 16.

[Joe Korkey]

Hi Nick and Carlo,

The version of Stata I have through my institution is 15.1. I am not sure how I can get 16. Carlo, I have metan installed already and have gone to help meta and it just gives me this:


[R] meta -- Meta-analysis
(View complete PDF manual entry)


Remarks

Stata does not have a meta-analysis command. Stata users, however, have developed an excellent suite of commands for performing
meta-analysis, including commands for performing standard and cumulative meta-analysis, commands for producing forest plots and
contour-enhanced funnel plots, and commands for nonparametric analysis of publication bias.

Many articles describing these commands have been published in the Stata Technical Bulletin and the Stata Journal. These articles were
updated and published in a cohesive collection: Meta-Analysis in Stata: An Updated Collection from the Stata Journal.

In this collection, editors Tom Palmer and Jonathan Sterne discuss how these articles relate to each other and how they fit in the overall
literature of meta-analysis. Palmer and Sterne have organized the collection into seven areas: classic meta-analysis; meta-regression;
graphical and analytic tools for detecting bias; multivariate meta-analysis; individual patient data meta-analysis; network meta-analysis;
and recent advances such as meta-analysis for dose-response curves, diagnostic accuracy, and studies containing missing values.

We highly recommend that Stata users interested in meta-analysis read this book.

Please also see the following FAQ on the Stata website:

What meta-analysis features are available in Stata?
http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/stat/meta.html


Reference

Palmer, T. M., and J. A. C. Sterne, ed. 2016. Meta-Analysis in Stata: An Updated Collection from the Stata Journal. 2nd ed. College
Station, TX: Stata Press.

[Nick Cox]

You need access to Stata 16 or 17 to run official Stata meta. Sorry, but there is no other solution. When StataCorp (the company) adds a new official command it isn't usually provided as a separate download for earlier versions. Something as extensive as meta is in practice a large set of files, and, for all I know, makes use of new stuff that is part of the executable files.

Please note that in our FAQ Advice we suggest that you flag if you are using a version of Stata earlier than the current version. https://www.statalist.org/forums/help#version

The do-file you are trying to use was, on this information, written for use in Stata 16 up.


The entire meta manual for Stata 17 is accessible to all at https://www.stata.com/manuals/meta.pdf and may help in identifying any equivalent commands in community-contributed commands.

[David Fisher]

Hi Joe Korkey

Could you give us more information regarding the source of the file you are working from? Some textbooks and webpages continue to refer to very outdated Stata meta-analysis commands, and there was -- once upon a time -- a user-written package named meta, now long deprecated. If it is this program that you are being referred to, maybe we can help modify the command line so as to be valid with the modern metan command.

If, however, you are being referred to the Stata 16/17 built-in command suite named meta, then I'm afraid Nick is correct and you will need access to Stata 16/17 to run your file.

BW,
David.