Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

The “Big Five” Misinterpretations of Statistical Significance

#1
C C Offline
http://www.statspecialist.com/blog/the-b...nificance/

EXCERPT: There is ample evidence that many of us do not know the correct interpretation of outcomes of statistical tests, or p values. For example, at the end of a standard statistics course, most students know how to calculate statistical tests, but they do not typically understand what the results mean (Haller & Krauss, 2002). About 80% of psychology professors endorse at least one incorrect interpretation of statistical tests (Oakes, 1986). It is easy to find similar misinterpretations in books and articles (Cohen, 1994), so it seems that psychology students get their false beliefs from teachers and also from what students read. However, the situation is no better in other behavioral science disciplines (e.g., Hubbard & Armstrong, 2006).

Most misunderstandings about statistical tests involve overinterpretation, or the tendency to see too much meaning in statistical significance. Specifically, we tend to believe that statistical tests tell us what we want to know, but this is wishful thinking. Elsewhere I described statistical tests as a kind of collective Rorschach inkblot test for the behavioral sciences in that what we see in them has more to do with fantasy than with what is really there (Kline, 2004). Such wishful thinking is so pervasive that one could argue that much of our practice of hypothesis testing based on statistical tests is myth....

= = = = = = = =

Also: Statistical fallacy impairs post-publication mood

EXCERPT: [...] This mistake in analysis – which is far from unique to this paper – is discussed in a classic 2011 paper by Nieuwenhuis and colleagues: Erroneous analyses of interactions in neuroscience: a problem of significance. At the time of writing the sentiment on Pubpeer is that the paper should be retracted – in effect striking it from the scientific record. With commentary like this, you can see why Pubpeer has previously been the target of legal action by aggrieved researchers who feel the site unfairly maligns their work....
Reply


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  4+ hours smartphone use tied to health risks for adolescents (statistical analysis) C C 1 101 Dec 10, 2023 10:31 PM
Last Post: Magical Realist
  Research Something is wrong with psychological research (decades of statistical delusion) C C 1 108 Nov 1, 2023 05:19 PM
Last Post: ellisael
  Study finds genetic links between traits are often overstated (statistical analysis) C C 0 278 Nov 18, 2022 03:31 AM
Last Post: C C
  COVID as a hoax is ‘gateway’ to belief in conspiracy theories (statistical analysis) C C 1 326 Oct 27, 2022 03:18 AM
Last Post: Kornee
  Statistical technique hints at hundreds of lost medieval legends C C 0 78 Feb 21, 2022 11:42 PM
Last Post: C C
  Racism is a framework, not a theory (statistical modeling) C C 1 102 Jan 8, 2022 02:49 AM
Last Post: Syne
  How the strange idea of ‘statistical significance’ was born C C 1 92 Aug 12, 2021 11:17 PM
Last Post: Syne
  We’re very close to finding a solar system like our own (statistical data analysis) C C 0 240 Jun 7, 2020 04:51 PM
Last Post: C C
  Statistical analysis reveals odds of life evolving on alien worlds C C 0 132 May 21, 2020 04:49 AM
Last Post: C C
  How a statistical paradox helps to get to the root of bias in college admissions C C 0 314 Dec 20, 2017 06:55 PM
Last Post: C C



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)