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distribution family

forest

Meta-analysis effect-size plot with confidence intervals.

A point per study (effect size) flanked by a horizontal line (confidence interval). A vertical line marks the null. Standard in evidence-based medicine and economics.

When to use

Comparing effect sizes across studies / experiments / segments with explicit uncertainty.

When NOT to use

You have no uncertainty information (use dot-plot).

Rhetorical roles

  • compare
  • distribute

Variants & related

Required primitives

  • has_error_bars
  • has_axis_titles

Optional primitives

  • has_data_labels
  • has_source_note

Common anti-patterns

  • missing-label
  • unsourced-data

Disambiguation rules

  • Dots with horizontal lines through them (CI), often with a vertical line marking the null effect.
  • If no horizontal CI lines, it is dot-plot.