Comparing Bayesian Posterior Passing with Meta-analysis

Brand, von der Post, Ounsley, and Morgan (2019) introduced Bayesian posterior passing as an alternative to traditional meta-analyses. In this commentary I relate their procedure to traditional meta-analysis, showing that posterior passing is equivalent to fixed effects meta-analysis. To overcome the limitations of simple posterior passing, I introduce improved posterior passing methods to account for heterogeneity and publication bias. Additionally, practical limitations of posterior passing and the role that it can play in future research are discussed.