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The Meta-Plot: A graphical tool for interpreting the results of a meta-analysis

Van Assen,Marcel A.L.M.
; 
Van Den Akker,Olmo R.
; 
Augusteijn,Hilde E.M.
; 
Bakker,Marjan
; 
Nuijten,Michèle B.
; 
Olsson-Collentine,Anton
; 
Stoevenbelt,Andrea H.
; 
Wicherts,Jelte M.
; 
Van Aert,Robbie C.M.
Abstract
The meta-plot is a descriptive visual tool for meta-analysis that provides information on the primary studies in the meta-analysis and the results of the meta-analysis. More precisely, the meta-plot portrays (1) the precision and statistical power of the primary studies in themetaanalysis, (2) the estimate and confidence interval of a random-effects meta-analysis, (3) the results of a cumulative random-effects metaanalysis yielding a robustness check of the meta-analytic effect size with respect to primary studies' precision, and (4) evidence of publication bias. After explaining the underlying logic and theory, the meta-plot is applied to two cherry-picked meta-analyses that appear to be biased and to 10 randomly selected meta-analyses from the psychological literature. We recommend accompanying any meta-analysis of common effect size measures with the meta-plot.
Description
The appendices of this paper are available in the online appendices in PsychArchives at https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.12520 (van Assen et al., 2023a). The R code and data are available on the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/eayfr/ (van Assen et al., 2023b).
Date
2023
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Tilburg University Research Output Collection
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Keywords
cumulative meta-analysis, funnel plot, meta-analysis, publication bias, statistical power
Citation
Van Assen, M A L M, Van Den Akker, O R, Augusteijn, H E M, Bakker, M, Nuijten, M B, Olsson-Collentine, A, Stoevenbelt, A H, Wicherts, J M & Van Aert, R C M 2023, 'The Meta-Plot : A graphical tool for interpreting the results of a meta-analysis', Zeitschrift fur Psychologie / Journal of Psychology, vol. 231, no. 1, pp. 65-78. https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000513
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14602/79063
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