Abstract: | Despite the recent popularity of meta-analysis as a tool for summarizing empirical results across a number of studies, surprisingly little research has been conducted on the accuracy of these procedures under a variety of population conditions. Of concern in this study was the 90% credibility value (K. Pearlman et al, see record 1980-31533-001) advocated as a rule of thumb regarding the transportability of employment test validities. We investigated the ability of this meta-analytic rule to detect the presence of discretely defined moderator variables, that is, the ability of the rule to detect instances where transportability is inappropriate. An infinite sample size analysis and a mathematical proof demonstrated that the transportability rule may produce erroneous inferences at rates higher than expected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |