vcmeta (version 1.5.0)

meta.lm.spear: Meta-regression analysis for Spearman correlations

Description

This function estimates the intercept and slope coefficients in a meta-regression model where the dependent variable is a Fisher-transformed Spearman correlation. The estimates are OLS estimates with robust standard errors that accommodate residual heteroscedasticity. The correlations are Fisher-transformed and hence the parameter estimates do not have a simple interpretation. However, the hypothesis test results can be used to decide if a population slope is either positive or negative.

Usage

meta.lm.spear(alpha, n, cor, X)

Value

Returns a matrix. The first row is for the intercept with one additional row per predictor. The matrix has the following columns:

• Estimate - OLS estimate

• SE - standard error

• z - z-value

• p - p-value

• LL - lower limit of the confidence interval

• UL - upper limit of the confidence interval

Arguments

alpha

alpha level for 1-alpha confidence

n

vector of sample sizes

cor

vector of estimated Spearman correlations

X

matrix of predictor values

Examples

n <- c(150, 200, 300, 200, 350)
cor <- c(.14, .29, .16, .21, .23)
x1 <- c(18, 25, 23, 19, 24)
X <- matrix(x1, 5, 1)
meta.lm.spear(.05, n, cor, X)

# Should return: 
#       Estimate         SE          z     p           LL         UL
# b0 -0.08920088 0.26686388 -0.3342561 0.738 -0.612244475 0.43384271
# b1  0.01370866 0.01190212  1.1517825 0.249 -0.009619077 0.03703639