Practice question · Multiple choice
A meta-analysis pools twelve published studies and reports a solid overall effect. What is the first thing a careful reader should ask?
Hints
- Ask where the twelve came from, and which studies tend to reach publication.
- Pooling improves precision. Does it improve accuracy?
Show the answer
D. Whether the twelve are all the studies that were run
Why
Pooling narrows the interval around whatever the inputs point at, so a literature missing its null results yields a confident wrong answer. That is why competent meta-analyses test for publication bias with funnel plots before reporting anything, the file drawer is the first threat, not the last.
Practise Power and Effect Size
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