Evidenceweighting
Evidenceweighting is a methodological approach to assign relative importance to individual pieces of evidence when forming conclusions, predictions, or decisions. It encompasses qualitative judgments about relevance and reliability as well as quantitative methods that combine evidence with varying weight. The objective is to ensure that stronger, more relevant, or higher-quality data have greater influence on outcomes than weaker or less pertinent data.
In quantitative contexts, common techniques include inverse-variance weighting in meta-analysis, where studies with smaller variance (more
Applications span scientific synthesis, policy evaluation, clinical guideline development, and machine learning feature integration. Transparent reporting
Limitations include subjectivity in selecting weights, potential bias in appraisal tools, and the risk of overweighting
See also: meta-analysis, inverse-variance weighting, Bayesian inference, risk of bias, evidence quality.