Dependent effect sizes in meta-analysis: incorporating the degree of interdependence

In the present article, a commonly used meta-analytic procedure for handling dependent effect sizes from a single sample was examined, and 2 revised procedures that estimate and incorporate the degree of interdependence were proposed. The authors' simulation results reveal that the commonly used procedure that averages the effect sizes from a single sample (denoted as the samplewise procedure) underestimates the degree of heterogeneity. The proposed variations are less biased than the samplewise procedure in estimating the degree of heterogeneity in most of the situations that we examined. Future directions to further improve the procedures for handling dependent effect sizes from a single sample are discussed.