Question

A researcher is interested in conducting a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of increased foot patrols. All of the following are legitimate reasons to omit a study from a meta-analysis except:

		It is a qualitative study
		The study found that increased foot patrols were not effective
		The research methods are much different than those of the included studies
		It is an unpublished dissertation and the researcher wants to include only published reports

Answer 1

Question: A researcher is interested in conducting a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of increased foot patrols. All of the following are legitimate reasons to omit a study from a meta-analysis except:

Answer: A meta-analysis in research is aimed at identifying a common truth based of statistical aggregation or derive a pooled estimate of truth from multiple studies. Different studies may disagree, agree or only partially agree with each other. The researcher may exercise choice to limit or control the inclusion of studies based upon a certain methods used, criteria, data, or publication status. However,           excluding a study because of its results – for example excluding the study suggesting increased foot patrols were not effective – would effective bias the meta-analysis and will go against the very purpose of research that is identifying truth based upon pooled estimates from a set of studies.

The study found that increased foot patrols were not effective