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In statistics, (between-) study heterogeneity is a phenomenon that commonly occurs when attempting to undertake a meta-analysis. In a simplistic scenario, studies whose results are to be combined in the meta-analysis would all be undertaken in the same way and to the same experimental protocols.
In statistics, a sequence of random variables is homoscedastic (/ ˌ h oʊ m oʊ s k ə ˈ d æ s t ɪ k /) if all its random variables have the same finite variance; this is also known as homogeneity of variance. The complementary notion is called heteroscedasticity, also known as heterogeneity of variance.
In statistics, a Galbraith plot (also known as Galbraith's radial plot or just radial plot) is one way of displaying several estimates of the same quantity that have different standard errors. [1] Example for Galbraith's radial plot. It can be used to examine heterogeneity in a meta-analysis, as an alternative or supplement to a forest plot.
Funnel plots, introduced by Light and Pillemer in 1984 [1] and discussed in detail by Matthias Egger and colleagues, [2] [3] are useful adjuncts to meta-analyses. A funnel plot is a scatterplot of treatment effect against a measure of study precision. It is used primarily as a visual aid for detecting bias or systematic heterogeneity.
Meta-analysis leads to a shift of emphasis from single studies to multiple studies. It emphasizes the practical importance of the effect size instead of the statistical significance of individual studies. This shift in thinking has been termed "meta-analytic thinking". The results of a meta-analysis are often shown in a forest plot.
For example, if both p-values are around 0.10, or if one is around 0.04 and one is around 0.25, the meta-analysis p-value is around 0.05. In statistics, Fisher's method, [1] [2] also known as Fisher's combined probability test, is a technique for data fusion or "meta-analysis" (analysis of analyses).
The main statistical analysis is the mean analysis, which consists in calculating the mean of the voxel values in the different studies. This mean is weighted by the inverse of the variance and accounts for inter-study heterogeneity (QH maps). [2] Subgroup analyses are mean analyses applied to groups of studies to allow the study of heterogeneity.
The area of each square is proportional to the study's weight in the meta-analysis. The overall meta-analysed measure of effect is often represented on the plot as a dashed vertical line. This meta-analysed measure of effect is commonly plotted as a diamond, the lateral points of which indicate confidence intervals for this estimate.