Spurious Precision in Meta-Analysis of Observational Research
Meta-analysis upweights studies reporting lower standard errors and hence more precision. But in observational settings, precision is not given to the researcher. Precision must be estimated, and thus can be p-hacked to achieve statistical significance. Simulations and applications show that spurious precision can invalidate inverse-variance weighting and bias-correction methods based on the funnel plot. Selection… Continue reading Spurious Precision in Meta-Analysis of Observational Research