ESMARConf2022 Special Session 5: Other quantitative synthesis - Constantin Yves Plessen
Channel: ESMARConf
Date: 2022-02-23

Presenter: Constantin Yves Plessen
Session: Special Session 5: Other quantitative synthesis
Title: What if…? A very short primer on conducting multiverse meta-analyses in R
Abstract: Even though conventional meta-analyses provide an overview of the published literature, they do not consider different paths that could have been taken in selecting or analyzing the data. At times, multiple meta-analyses with overlapping research questions reach different conclusions due to differences in inclusion and exclusion criteria, or data analytical decisions. It is therefore crucial to evaluate the influence such choices might have on the result of each meta-analysis. Was the meta-analytical method and exclusion criteria decisive, or is the same result reached via multiple analytical strategies? What if a meta-analyst would have decided to go a different path—would the same outcome occur? Ensuring that the conclusions of a meta-analysis are not disproportionately influenced by data analytical decisions, a multiverse meta-analysis can provide the entire picture and underpin the robustness of the findings—or lack thereof—by conducting multiple, namely all possible and reasonable meta-analyses at once. Hereby, multiverse meta-analyses provide a research integration like umbrella reviews yet additionally investigate the influence flexibility in data analysis could have on the resulting summary effect size. During the talk I will give insight into this potent method, and run through the multiverse of meta-analyses on the efficacy of psychological treatments for depression as an empirical example.

Please cite as: Plessen, Yves Constantin (2022) What if…? A very short primer on conducting multiverse meta-analyses in R. ESMARConf2022 conference presentation. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6079835