A method for meta-analysis of molecular association studies

Although population-based molecular association studies are becoming increasingly popular, methodology for the meta-analysis of these studies has been neglected, particularly with regard to two issues: testing Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE), and pooling results in a manner that reflects a biological model of gene effect. We propose a process for pooling results from population-based molecular association studies which consists of the following steps: (1) checking HWE using chi-square goodness of fit; we suggest performing sensitivity analysis with and without studies that are in HWE. (2) Heterogeneity is then checked, and if present, possible causes are explored. (3) If no heterogeneity is present,…