I have a number of studies who estimate an unknown proportion (incidence of a rare disease). What is the correct way to estimate a global proportion by a meta-analytic approach from different independent studies? 1) Weighting the studies' estimators by n (assuming a common proportion but neglecting the properties of the binomial distribution). 2) Weighting the different estimators by the reciprocal of its variances. How to estimate the variance of the combined proportion estimate? For method 2 I think a good estimator is : 1/sum(wi) with wi=1/var(pi) Thanks Bernd Genser =========================================================================== This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in termination of the list. For information about this list, including information about the problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to unsubscribe, please see the web page at http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ ===========================================================================
