Research Measurements
Forest Plot
A graphical display showing individual study results and the pooled meta-analysis estimate.
A forest plot is the standard visual representation of a meta-analysis, displaying individual study effect sizes (as squares, with area proportional to study weight), their 95% confidence intervals (horizontal lines), and the pooled summary estimate (diamond). The vertical line at the null effect (RR=1 or OR=1 or difference=0) helps identify whether individual studies or the pooled result are statistically significant — CIs crossing this line indicate non-significance. Forest plots allow rapid visual assessment of consistency across studies, presence of outliers, and overall evidence direction.