What is also interesting is what a funnel plot is usually used for, why I ran into it in the first place reading Cochrane Group materials—it’s used to show publication bias.
Interesting—the linked article seems to argue that funnel plots are not good for showing publication bias.
They are useful for showing publication bias when the bias is not in a subtle form. But they aren’t great for subtle biases. Also, a distorted funnel plot can be caused by other issues. Some types of measurement errors and statistical biases can result in weird results on a funnel plot. Like any specific tool, they have definite limits and should be used in conjunction with other tools.
Interesting—the linked article seems to argue that funnel plots are not good for showing publication bias.
They are useful for showing publication bias when the bias is not in a subtle form. But they aren’t great for subtle biases. Also, a distorted funnel plot can be caused by other issues. Some types of measurement errors and statistical biases can result in weird results on a funnel plot. Like any specific tool, they have definite limits and should be used in conjunction with other tools.