Reviewing Research on Travel and the Built Environment: If You Don’t Like Meta-analysis, Try Meta-regression Analysis Instead!

Abstract

In this Commentary, I respond to a Commentary by Petter Næss that critiques the use of meta-analysis for reviewing the literature on travel and the built environment. I describe how each of Næss’s four challenges to the use of meta-analysis can be at least partially resolved through the use of meta-regression analysis instead. I also note important limitations of the literature review method that Næss recommends as an alternative to meta-analysis. While meta-regression is not a perfect method, I argue that it offers valuable features for understanding planning research that literature review and meta-analysis do not.