Funnel-plot asymmetry suggests small studies with negative or null results may be missing from the simulation-versus-clinical meta-analysis¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesisr3·q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? The review's funnel plot suggests publication bias: small studies showing negative or no difference may be absent, and their inclusion would reduce effect sizes. → Prothero 2026
Evidence¶
Prothero 2026¶
Prothero, L., Abdulmohdi, N., Shaw, S., Edmonds, M., and Meads, C. (2026). The Effectiveness of Simulation‐Based Versus Patient‐Based Clinical Education in Nursing: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis. Nursing Open 13, no. 9: e70689. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.70689
q2 · i? · quant-synthesis · r3
Publication-bias assessment in the review's search-results section: the funnel plot of the simulation-versus-clinical comparison "suggests that small studies with negative or no difference in outcomes may have been missing", and the review states their presence would have reduced effect sizes.
"The funnel plot of SBE versus clinical teaching (Figure S2) suggests that small studies with negative or no difference in outcomes may have been missing."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- The pooled effect of writing instruction for US ELL students is robust to sensitivity analyses but funnel plot asymmetry suggests possible missing positive effect sizes — related
- Funnel-plot asymmetry ran contrary to small-study effects because larger-sample studies reported larger effect sizes, likely reflecting longer training programs — related
- Publication bias due to small study effects was limited, and sensitivity analyses supported Winsorizing an outlying effect size — related
- Publication-bias checks indicate the pooled effect is unlikely to result from publication bias — related
- Publication bias analyses suggest the pooled effect may be underestimated: trim-and-fill raises the mean effect from g = 0.24 to g = 0.29, with no evidence of funnel plot asymmetry — related
- Publication bias is present in the embodied vocabulary learning literature, suggesting pooled effects may overestimate the true benefit — related
- Publication-bias checks give mixed results: Egger's test indicates funnel-plot asymmetry while Trim and Fill and Fail-Safe N indicate no bias — related
- Funnel plot asymmetry indicates publication bias, lowering the bias-adjusted effect size to 0.642 — related
- Simulation-based education compared to patient-based clinical teaching alone shows a large pooled advantage in objectively assessed outcomes in undergraduate nursing students — related
- Trim-and-fill analyses suggest publication bias affected three of the four meta-analyses, indicating true mean effects may be lower than originally reported. — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
status |
review |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-31 |
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