Avoiding Bias in Publication Bias Research: The Value of “Null” Findings

Meta-analytic reviews are an important tool for advancing science and guiding evidence-based practice. Publication bias is one of the greatest threats to meta-analytic reviews. This paper assesses the degree of publication bias in four previously published meta-analytic datasets from various fields of study in the organizational sciences. Of these datasets, one appears to be relatively unaffected by publication bias while the others seem to be noticeably influenced by this bias. Our “null” result (i.e., a prior meta-analytic estimate is unlikely to have been affected by publication bias) increases our confidence in the accuracy of our cumulative knowledge. Yet, our other findings suggest the presence of publication bias and point to the need for caution and further research.     

Whiteness and Disability: Double Marginalization

Whiteness involves a set of privileges that are lost or removed when a person becomes, or is perceived to be, disabled. For European American women, disability impacts femininity, the part of identity that differentiates them from European American men who hold maximal power and privilege in U.S. society. Disability represents a health issue, a barrier to social participation, and vulnerability to individual and societal abuse. Development of a healthy disability identity allows European American women to negotiate the multicultural situation of being White, women, and disabled.     

Fear and Implicit Racism: Whites’ Support for Voter ID laws

Oftentimes, Whites are unaware that they may have slighted Blacks. Although researchers have spent a considerable amount of attention disentangling this form of implicit (unconscious) racial bias from explicit (conscious) racial bias, we are less clear about the conditions that cause implicit racism to matter in American politics. In this article, we offer a theory of how fear and Whites' unconscious racial bias are tightly linked in memory, and triggering this emotion can make these implicit attitudes more salient in public opinion. To test our theory, we focus on Whites’ opinions toward voter ID laws. Our expectation is that inducing fear should cause implicit racism to play an important role in Whites’ evaluation of the policy. Using an adult national experiment over two waves, we induced several emotions to elicit fear, anger, or relaxation. The findings show that the fear condition causes Whites high in implicit racism to be more supportive of voter ID laws than similar individuals in the anger and control conditions. On the other hand, fear does not cause Whites high in explicit racism to be more supportive of voter ID laws.     

Sample size determination for a matched-pairs study with incomplete data using exact approach

This research was motivated by a clinical trial design for a cognitive study. The pilot study was a matched-pairs design where some data are missing, specifically the missing data coming at the end of the study. Existing approaches to determine sample size are all based on asymptotic approaches (e.g., the generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach). When the sample size in a clinical trial is small to medium, these asymptotic approaches may not be appropriate for use due to the unsatisfactory Type I and II error rates. For this reason, we consider the exact unconditional approach to compute the sample size for a matched-pairs study with incomplete data. Recommendations are made for each possible missingness pattern by comparing the exact sample sizes based on three commonly used test statistics, with the existing sample size calculation based on the GEE approach. An example from a real surgeon-reviewers study is used to illustrate the application of the exact sample size calculation in study designs.     

Publication Bias: A call for improved meta‐analytic practice in the organizational sciences

Previous research has introduced the threat of publication bias to meta‐analytic reviews in management and industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology research. However, a comprehensive review of top‐tier journals demonstrates that more than two thirds of meta‐analytic studies in management and I/O psychology ignore the issue. Of the studies that do empirically evaluate publication bias, almost all use methods that are based on problematic assumptions (e.g., the Failsafe N and subgroup comparisons by source of data). The current paper reviews the issue of publication bias and introduces to management and I/O psychology new methodological techniques to assess this bias. To illustrate the methods, multiple publication bias methods are demonstrated in a meta‐analytic review of conditional reasoning tests for aggression. We offer specific recommendations that address both design and analysis issues to mitigate the existence and influence of publication bias.     

The relationship between self-control and health: The mediating effect of avoidant coping

Trait self-control is related to a number of positive outcomes, including mental health, interpersonal success, academic success and health-related behaviours. This study sought to explore the relationships between self-control, reports of mental and physical health symptoms and coping styles. The results revealed that higher self-control was related to fewer mental and physical health symptoms and less avoidance coping. There was not a significant relationship between self-control and problem-focused or emotion-focused coping styles. Further, the relationships between self-control and mental and physical health outcomes were partially mediated by avoidance coping style. Specifically, the data suggest lower self-control is associated with unhealthy coping strategies (avoidance coping), which in turn are associated with worse mental health outcomes and greater reports of physical health symptoms. Thus lower trait self-control can serve as an indicator, suggesting circumstances in which individuals’ tendencies to engage in unhealthy coping strategies are increased. These findings add to a growing body of literature underscoring the importance of trait self-control.     

Meta-analytic Reviews in the Organizational Sciences: Two Meta-analytic Schools on the Way to MARS (the Meta-analytic Reporting Standards)

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to review the Meta-Analysis Reporting Standards (MARS) of the American Psychological Association (APA) and highlight opportunities for improvement of meta-analytic reviews in the organizational sciences.

Design/Methodology/Approach

The paper reviews MARS, describes “best” meta-analytic practices across two schools of meta-analysis, and shows how implementing such practices helps achieve the aims set forth in MARS. Examples of best practices are provided to aid readers in finding models for their own research.

Implications/Value

Meta-analytic reviews are a primary avenue for the accumulation of knowledge in the organizational sciences as well as many other areas of science. Unfortunately, many meta-analytic reviews in the organizational sciences do not fully follow professional guidelines and standards as closely as they should. Such deviations from best practice undermine the transparency and replicability of the reviews and thus their usefulness for the generation of cumulative knowledge and evidence-based practice. This study shows how implementing “best” meta-analytic practices helps to achieve the aims set forth in MARS. Although the paper is written primarily for organizational scientists, the paper’s recommendations are not limited to any particular scientific domain.