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Meta-analysis

Pooling models, heterogeneity, sensitivity analysis and the question of whether to pool at all.

Guides in this topic

  1. 01Publication bias: funnel plots, Egger's test and what they can and cannot showFunnel plot asymmetry has several explanations and publication bias is only one of them. Reading it as proof of missing studies is a common and consequential error.
  2. 02What is heterogeneity in meta-analysis, and what does I² actually mean?I² is widely reported and widely misread. It does not measure how different the studies are, and it is not a threshold for whether pooling is allowed.
  3. 03Fixed-effect vs random-effects meta-analysisThe two models answer different questions. Choosing between them by which one gives a narrower interval is choosing the answer before asking the question.
  4. 04When should you perform a meta-analysis — and when should you not?Software will pool almost anything you give it. The methodological question is whether a single number describing these particular studies means anything at all.

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