Skip to Main Content

Subject support guide

Library Search My Account

Systematic Reviews

Banner for Step 11 Assess heterogeneity of studies

Heterogeneity in this context, refers to diversity in characteristics and content of the individual studies included in your review. Heterogeneity is not inherently good or bad, but it does affect what we can learn from the analysis.

Any kind of variability among studies in a systematic review may be termed heterogeneity.

Heterogeneity may appear in differences in population, interventions or outcomes. It can also appear in study design or results.

See this article on What is heterogeneity and is it important? 

There are a variety of methods to assess heterogeneity. These include Cochran's Q Test, I-squared statistic, tau-squared, heterogeneity variance, meta-regression and forest plots.

See these articles for more information

Key concepts in clinical epidemiology: detecting and dealing with heterogeneity in meta-analysis. 

Alternative measures of between-study heterogeneity in meta-analysis: reducing the impact of outlying studies.

For further clarification check with your supervisor or tutor.