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ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2012/iii/paper-41/2/c/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 41 2 c Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The I-squared statistic of is a small estimate of excess variation on the heterogeneity scale. It does not mean that of studies are different, nor that this percentage of patients responds differently. The Cochran's Q statistic compares the observed variation with that expected from the studies' sampling errors; its approximate null distribution has five degrees of freedom here. A heterogeneity-test p-value of provides no rejection of the common-effect hypothesis.
The individual confidence intervals in the forest plot overlap substantially, although some point estimates are larger than others. Taken together, there is little evidence of between-study heterogeneity in these six studies. Neither the nonsignificant test nor the small I-squared statistic proves equal effects: with only six studies, detecting moderate heterogeneity can be difficult. A study being individually significant while another is not is also not itself a test of their difference.
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