[R-meta] Impact of very high tau-square value.

[jideofor thomas]

Hi all,
I did a random effect meta-analysis using the metafor package and I obtained a tau-squared ( heterogeneity)  value greater than 1.

I was worried because I am nit sure what to make of it; so I did the same analysis under the Bayesian framework. I also obtained a tau-squared value of about 32.8.  
I find it confusing, for one it is quite high and secondly I hadn't come across any discussion on how high the tau-squared value could get.
My questions are:
How high can the tau-squared value  be?
Secondly, under this situation can I go ahead and interpret my result but with a warning on the amount of heterogeneity present in the study?  Or does the high value of the tau-square make non-sense of my analysis?
Thanks in advance for your response. 
Jide Ogbu




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