IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/tsj/stataj/v8y2008i2p242-254.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Contour-enhanced funnel plots for meta-analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Tom M. Palmer

    (Department of Heath Sciences, University of Leicester)

  • Jaime L. Peters

    (School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology)

  • Alex J. Sutton

    (Department of Heath Sciences, University of Leicester)

  • Santiago G. Moreno

    (Department of Heath Sciences, University of Leicester)

Abstract

Funnel plots are commonly used to investigate publication and related biases in meta-analysis. Although asymmetry in the appearance of a funnel plot is often interpreted as being caused by publication bias, in reality the asymmetry could be due to other factors that cause systematic differences in the results of large and small studies, for example, confounding factors such as differential study quality. Funnel plots can be enhanced by adding contours of statistical significance to aid in interpreting the funnel plot. If studies appear to be missing in areas of low statistical significance, then it is possible that the asymmetry is due to publication bias. If studies appear to be missing in areas of high statistical significance, then publication bias is a less likely cause of the funnel asymmetry. It is proposed that this enhancement to funnel plots should be used routinely for meta-analyses where it is possible that results could be suppressed on the basis of their statistical significance. Copyright 2008 by StataCorp LP.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom M. Palmer & Jaime L. Peters & Alex J. Sutton & Santiago G. Moreno, 2008. "Contour-enhanced funnel plots for meta-analysis," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 8(2), pages 242-254, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:tsj:stataj:v:8:y:2008:i:2:p:242-254
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.stata-journal.com/article.html?article=gr0033
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.stata-journal.com/software/sj8-2/gr0033/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ross J. Harris & Michael J. Bradburn & Jonathan J. Deeks & Roger M. Harbord & Douglas G. Altman & Jonathan A. C. Sterne, 2008. "metan: fixed- and random-effects meta-analysis," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 8(1), pages 3-28, February.
    2. Jonathan A.C. Sterne & Roger M. Harbord, 2004. "Funnel plots in meta-analysis," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 4(2), pages 127-141, June.
    3. Sue Duval & Richard Tweedie, 2000. "Trim and Fill: A Simple Funnel-Plot–Based Method of Testing and Adjusting for Publication Bias in Meta-Analysis," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 56(2), pages 455-463, June.
    4. Thomas J. Steichen & Matthias Egger & Jonathan Sterne, 1999. "Tests for publication bias in meta-analysis," Stata Technical Bulletin, StataCorp LP, vol. 8(44).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Roger M. Harbord & Ross J. Harris & Jonathan A. C. Sterne, 2009. "Updated tests for small-study effects in meta-analyses," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(2), pages 197-210, June.
    2. Smith, William C. & Anderson, Emily & Salinas, Daniel & Horvatek, Renata & Baker, David P., 2015. "A meta-analysis of education effects on chronic disease: The causal dynamics of the Population Education Transition Curve," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 29-40.
    3. Simon Alcouffe & Jonathan Maurice & Nadine Galy & Loïc Gate, 2019. "Is the limited diffusion of management accounting innovations really a paradox? A meta-analysis of the relationship between product diversity and the adoption of Activity-Based Costing [La faible d," Post-Print hal-02124677, HAL.
    4. Da-Jung Ha & Jung-Hyun Park & Su-Eun Jung & Boram Lee & Myo-Sung Kim & Kyo-Lin Sim & Yung-Hyun Choi & Chan-Young Kwon, 2021. "The Experience of Emotional Labor and Its Related Factors among Nurses in General Hospital Settings in Republic of Korea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, October.
    5. Jonathan Stokes & Maria Panagioti & Rahul Alam & Kath Checkland & Sudeh Cheraghi-Sohi & Peter Bower, 2015. "Effectiveness of Case Management for 'At Risk' Patients in Primary Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(7), pages 1-42, July.
    6. Zhengtao Liu & Huaijun Ning & Shuping Que & Linlin Wang & Xue Qin & Tao Peng, 2014. "Complex Association between Alanine Aminotransferase Activity and Mortality in General Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(3), pages 1-19, March.
    7. Michael J. Crowther & Dean Langan & Alex J. Sutton, 2012. "Graphical augmentations to the funnel plot to assess the impact of a new study on an existing meta-analysis," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 12(4), pages 605-622, December.
    8. Qian Li & Yan Chen & Shikun Sun & Muyuan Zhu & Jing Xue & Zihan Gao & Jinfeng Zhao & Yihe Tang, 2022. "Research on Crop Irrigation Schedules Under Deficit Irrigation—A Meta-analysis," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 36(12), pages 4799-4817, September.
    9. Bart Verkuil & Serpil Atasayi & Marc L Molendijk, 2015. "Workplace Bullying and Mental Health: A Meta-Analysis on Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(8), pages 1-16, August.
    10. Damiano Pizzol & Mike Trott & Igor Grabovac & Mario Antunes & Anna Claudia Colangelo & Simona Ippoliti & Cristian Petre Ilie & Anne Carrie & Nicola Veronese & Lee Smith, 2021. "Laparoscopy in Low-Income Countries: 10-Year Experience and Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-11, May.
    11. Ünal, Zehra E. & Kartal, Gamze & Ulusoy, Serra & Ala, Aslı M. & Yilmaz, Munube & Geary, David C., 2023. "Relative contributions of g and basic domain-specific mathematics skills to complex mathematics competencies," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    12. Zabaloy, Maria Florencia & Viego, Valentina, 2022. "Household electricity demand in Latin America and the Caribbean: A meta-analysis of price elasticity," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    13. Viktoria Maria Baumeister & Leonie Petra Kuen & Maike Bruckes & Gerhard Schewe, 2021. "The Relationship of Work-Related ICT Use With Well-being, Incorporating the Role of Resources and Demands: A Meta-Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    14. Gundula Krack, 2019. "How to make value-based health insurance designs more effective? A systematic review and meta-analysis," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(6), pages 841-856, August.
    15. Chuang Yuan & Jing Wang & Michael Ying, 2016. "Predictive Value of Carotid Distensibility Coefficient for Cardiovascular Diseases and All-Cause Mortality: A Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, April.
    16. Francisco Javier Blanco-Encomienda & Rocío García-Cantero & María José Latorre-Medina, 2020. "Association between Work-Related Rumination, Work Environment and Employee Well-Being: A Meta-Analytic Study of Main and Moderator Effects," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 887-910, August.
    17. Pedro L. Cosio & Manuel Crespo-Posadas & Álvaro Velarde-Sotres & Mireia Pelaez, 2021. "Effect of Chronic Resistance Training on Circulating Irisin: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-16, March.
    18. Augusteijn, Hilde Elisabeth Maria & van Aert, Robbie Cornelis Maria & van Assen, Marcel A. L. M., 2021. "Posterior Probabilities of Effect Sizes and Heterogeneity in Meta-Analysis: An Intuitive Approach of Dealing with Publication Bias," OSF Preprints avkgj, Center for Open Science.
    19. Georgiou, George K. & Guo, Kan & Naveenkumar, Nithya & Vieira, Ana Paula Alves & Das, J.P., 2020. "PASS theory of intelligence and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    20. Amal F. Alshammary & Khalid Khalaf Alharbi & Naif Jameel Alshehri & Vishal Vennu & Imran Ali Khan, 2021. "Metabolic Syndrome and Coronary Artery Disease Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-16, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:tsj:stataj:v:8:y:2008:i:2:p:242-254. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christopher F. Baum or Lisa Gilmore (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.stata-journal.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.