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Methodological and Reporting Errors in Meta-Analytic Reviews Make Other Meta-Analysts Angry: A Commentary on Ferguson

Hannah R Rothstein1, Brad J Bushman2

  • 1Baruch College-City University of New York Hannah.Rothstein@baruch.cuny.edu.

Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science
|September 20, 2015
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Summary

This critique highlights significant methodological flaws in Ferguson's meta-analysis, questioning its reliability and validity due to single-coder issues and improper statistical synthesis. The analysis is deemed fatally flawed for publication.

Keywords:
meta-analysispublication bias

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Area of Science:

  • Psychological Science
  • Meta-analysis Methodology

Background:

  • Ferguson's (2015) meta-analysis addresses a critical topic within psychological science.
  • Concerns are raised regarding the methodological rigor and execution of this meta-analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically evaluate the methodological soundness of Ferguson's (2015) meta-analysis.
  • To identify and detail specific flaws that undermine the study's reliability and validity.

Main Methods:

  • Critique of single-coder reliability and validity assessment.
  • Analysis of the inappropriate synthesis of partial correlations as zero-order correlations.
  • Examination of inconsistent variable partialling and lack of reporting.
  • Evaluation of the publication bias detection and correction procedures.

Main Results:

  • The meta-analysis suffers from a lack of inter-rater reliability, compromising coded variables.
  • Incorrect statistical synthesis of correlations inflates or deflates variance.
  • Inconsistent and unreported variable partialling introduces systematic bias.
  • The publication bias "correction" is methodologically unsound.

Conclusions:

  • Ferguson's meta-analysis contains fatal methodological flaws.
  • The study's findings are unreliable and lack validity.
  • The meta-analysis should not have been accepted for publication due to these critical issues.