Meta-analysis with cluster-robust variance estimation"

In clubSandwich: Cluster-Robust (Sandwich) Variance Estimators with Small-Sample Corrections

robu_available <- requireNamespace("robumeta", quietly = TRUE) 
meta_available <- requireNamespace("metafor", quietly = TRUE)

knitr::opts_chunk$set(eval = robu_available & meta_available)

if (!robu_available) cat("## Building this vignette requires the robumeta package. Please install it. {-} \n")
if (!meta_available) cat("## Building this vignette requires the metafor package. Please install it. {-} \n")

This vignette demonstrates how to use the clubSandwich package to conduct a meta-analysis of dependent effect sizes with robust variance estimation. Tests of meta-regression coefficients and F-tests of multiple-coefficient hypotheses are calculated using small-sample corrections proposed by Tipton (2015) and Tipton and Pustejovsky (2015). The example uses a dataset of effect sizes from a Campbell Collaboration systematic review of dropout prevention programs, conducted by Sandra Jo Wilson and colleagues (2011).

The original analysis included a meta-regression with covariates that capture methodological, participant, and program characteristics. The regression specification used here is similar to Model III from Wilson et al. (2011), but treats the evaluator_independence and implementation_quality variables as categorical rather than interval-level. Also, the original analysis clustered at the level of the sample (some studies reported results from multiple samples), whereas here we cluster at the study level. The meta-regression can be fit in several different ways. We first demonstrate using the robumeta package (Fisher & Tipton, 2015) and then using the metafor package (Viechtbauer, 2010).

robumeta model

options(width = 100)

library(clubSandwich)
library(robumeta)
data(dropoutPrevention)

# clean formatting
names(dropoutPrevention)[7:8] <- c("eval","implement")
levels(dropoutPrevention$eval) <- c("independent","indirect","planning","delivery")
levels(dropoutPrevention$implement) <- c("low","medium","high")
levels(dropoutPrevention$program_site) <- c("community","mixed","classroom","school")
levels(dropoutPrevention$study_design) <- c("matched","unmatched","RCT")
levels(dropoutPrevention$adjusted) <- c("no","yes")

m3_robu <- robu(LOR1 ~ study_design + attrition + group_equivalence + adjusted
                + outcome + eval + male_pct + white_pct + average_age
                + implement + program_site + duration + service_hrs, 
                data = dropoutPrevention, studynum = studyID, var.eff.size = varLOR, 
                modelweights = "HIER")
print(m3_robu)

Note that robumeta produces small-sample corrected standard errors and t-tests, and so there is no need to repeat those calculations with clubSandwich. The eval variable has four levels, and it might be of interest to test whether the average program effects differ by the degree of evaluator independence. The null hypothesis in this case is that the 10th, 11th, and 12th regression coefficients are all equal to zero. A small-sample adjusted F-test for this hypothesis can be obtained as follows. The vcov = "CR2" option means that the standard errors will be corrected using the bias-reduced linearization estimator described in Tipton and Pustejovsky (2015).

Wald_test(m3_robu, constraints = constrain_zero(10:12), vcov = "CR2")

By default, the Wald_test function provides an F-type test with degrees of freedom estimated using the approximate Hotelling's $T^2_Z$ method. The test has less than 17 degrees of freedom, even though there are 152 independent studies in the data, and has a p-value that is not quite significant at conventional levels. The low degrees of freedom are a consequence of the fact that one of the levels of evaluator independence has only a few effect sizes in it:

table(dropoutPrevention$eval)

metafor model

clubSandwich also works with models fit using the metafor package. Here we re-fit the same regression specification, but use REML to estimate the variance components (robumeta uses a method-of-moments estimator), as well as a somewhat different weighting scheme than that used in robumeta.

library(metafor)
m3_metafor <- rma.mv(LOR1 ~ study_design + attrition + group_equivalence + adjusted
                      + outcome + eval
                      + male_pct + white_pct + average_age
                      + implement + program_site + duration + service_hrs, 
                      V = varLOR, random = list(~ 1 | studyID, ~ 1 | studySample),
                     data = dropoutPrevention)
summary(m3_metafor)

metafor produces model-based standard errors, t-tests, and confidence intervals. The coef_test function from clubSandwich will calculate robust standard errors and robust t-tests for each of the coefficients:

coef_test(m3_metafor, vcov = "CR2")

Note that coef_test assumed that it should cluster based on studyID, which is the outer-most random effect in the metafor model. This can be specified explicitly by including the option cluster = dropoutPrevention$studyID in the call.

The F-test for degree of evaluator independence uses the same syntax as before:

Wald_test(m3_metafor, constraints = constrain_zero(10:12), vcov = "CR2")

Despite some differences in weighting schemes, the p-value is very close to the result obtained using robumeta.

References

Fisher, Z., & Tipton, E. (2015). robumeta: An R-package for robust variance estimation in meta-analysis. arXiv:1503.02220

Tipton, E. (2015). Small sample adjustments for robust variance estimation with meta-regression. Psychological Methods, 20(3), 375-393. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000011

Tipton, E., & Pustejovsky, J. E. (2015). Small-sample adjustments for tests of moderators and model fit using robust variance estimation in meta-regression. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 40(6), 604-634. https://doi.org/10.3102/1076998615606099

Viechtbauer, W. (2010). Conducting meta-analyses in R with the metafor package. Journal of Statistical Software, 36(3), 1-48. URL: https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v036.i03

Wilson, S. J., Lipsey, M. W., Tanner-Smith, E., Huang, C. H., & Steinka-Fry, K. T. (2011). Dropout prevention and intervention programs: Effects on school completion and dropout Among school-aged children and youth: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 7(1), 1-61. https://doi.org/10.4073/csr.2011.8

clubSandwich documentation built on July 26, 2023, 5:46 p.m.