Dear R ecologists, 


We are trying to figure out the correct way to decide the width and number of bins for our analysis. 

We have a meta-anlaysis in which effect sizes are collected from the equator to the poles. We want to run a simulation that picks a random subset of data points from bins along the x-axis (latitude), do a meta-analysis, and repeat N times. Then compare observed meta-analysis results to that of the simulation set of results. 

It seems in my reading thus far that picking bin widths and number of bins is largely arbitrary. Is this correct? 

Number of observations is very large at the temperate latitudes (30-40 degrees) and very sparse in the tails (towards the equator and poles). We are using the absolute value of latitude, so there are no negative numbers. Is it okay to use different bin widths along the latitude axis? If so, we could create bins with more equitable number of data points by increasing the bin width from 30-40 degrees towards the equator and poles. 



Thanks in advance, 

Scott Chamberlain
Rice University, EEB Dept.



	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]

