Problems With Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST): What Do the Textbooks Say?
| Abstract | The first of 3 objectives in this study was to address the major problem with Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST) and 2 common misconceptions related to NHST that cause confusion for students and researchers. The misconcep- tions are (a) a smaller p indicates a stronger relationship and (b) statistical signifi- cance indicates practical importance. The second objective was to determine how this problem and the misconceptions were treated in 12 recent textbooks used in edu- cation research methods and statistics classes. The third objective was to examine how the textbooks’ presentations relate to current best practices and how much help they provide for students. The results show that almost all of the textbooks fail to acknowledge that there is controversy surrounding NHST. Most of the textbooks dealt, at least minimally, with the alleged misconceptions of interest, but they pro- vided relatively little help for students. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | No categories specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,865 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Only published papers are available at libraries |
Similar books and articlesAdam S. Goodie (2004). Null Hypothesis Statistical Testing and the Balance Between Positive and Negative Approaches. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 27 (3):338-339.
Aiden P. Gregg & Constantine Sedikides (2004). Is Social Psychological Research Really so Negatively Biased? Behavioral and Brain Sciences 27 (3):340-341.
J. D. Trout (1999). Measured Realism and Statistical Inference: An Explanation for the Fast Progress of "Hard" Psychology. Philosophy of Science 66 (3):272.
Robert W. Frick (1998). Chow's Defense of Null-Hypothesis Testing: Too Traditional? Behavioral and Brain Sciences 21 (2):199-199.
David Rindskopf (1998). Null-Hypothesis Tests Are Not Completely Stupid, but Bayesian Statistics Are Better. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 21 (2):215-216.
Edward Erwin (1998). The Logic of Null Hypothesis Testing. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 21 (2):197-198.
Andreas Ortmann & Michal Ostatnicky (2004). Proper Experimental Design and Implementation Are Necessary Conditions for a Balanced Social Psychology. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 27 (3):352-353.
Peter Godfrey-Smith (1994). Of Nulls and Norms. PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1994:280 - 290.
Judith Glück & Oliver Vitouch (1998). Stranded Statistical Paradigms: The Last Crusade. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 21 (2):200-201.
Günther Palm (1998). Significance Testing – Does It Need This Defence? Behavioral and Brain Sciences 21 (2):214-215.
Jonathan J. Koehler (1997). A Farewell to Normative Null Hypothesis Testing in Base Rate Research. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 20 (4):780-782.
Brian D. Haig (2000). Statistical Significance Testing, Hypothetico-Deductive Method, and Theory Evaluation. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (2):292-293.
Henderikus J. Stam & Grant A. Pasay (1998). The Historical Case Against Null-Hypothesis Significance Testing. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 21 (2):219-220.
Analytics
Monthly downloads
Sorry, there are not enough data points to plot this chart.
|
Added to index2010-12-22Total downloads0Recent downloads (6 months)0How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
