Literature Search

A chief requirement of a meta-analysis is to conduct a very thorough literature search. To this end,  the APA Psychological Abstracts, Dissertation Abstracts International, and ERIC databases from 1974 to 1994 were searched for relevant articles. The reference lists from the obtained studies and several major reviews (e.g., DeGroh, 1989; Nadon, Laurence, & Perry, 1991; 1992; Roche, & McConkey, 1991) were searched for additional material. Journals known for publishing hypnosis related articles (e.g., American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis) also were examined for research that may have been missed by the other search procedures. Finally letters requesting any additional material on this topic were sent out to most of researchers who have published material relating to hypnotic susceptibility and absorption.