Question

A meta-analyst found great variation in the quality of primary studies included in the meta-analysis. Which strategy might the researcher use to deal with this situation?

	A.	Use a meta-regression using quality assessment scores as the dependent variable.
	B.	Exclude the high-quality studies because they could inflate effect size estimates.
	C.	Weigh the low-quality studies more highly to minimize the risk of effect size inflation.
	D.	Exclude then include low-quality studies to undertake a sensitivity analysis.

Answer 1

Answer A

As in this case the data analyst can compare meaningful groupings of studies to clarify the variability more using ANOVA tool to explain systematic variability using levels of an independent variable affecting the overall dependent variables.

Hence the analyst can make an attempt to use meta-regression to forecast the variability in effect sizes using theoretically meaningful moderators as independent variables and their effect on dependent variables for quality analysis of a data of a population