An explanation of the misuse of statistical significance testing and the true meaning of "significance" is offered. Literature about the criticism of current practices of researchers and publications is reviewed in the context of tests of significance. The problem under consideration occurs when researchers attempt to do more than just establish…

Twenty-eight books published from 1910 to 1949, 19 books published from 1990 to 1992, and 5 multiple edition books were reviewed to examine the presentations of statistical testing, particularly coverage of the p-value and fixed-alpha approaches. Statistical testing itself is not at fault, but some textbook presentations, testing practices, and…

This working paper contains the overheads used in a seminar designed to introduce some basic concepts of statistics to nonstatisticians. The seminar has been presented on several occasions. The first part of the seminar, and the first set of overheads, deals with the essentials of statistics, including: (1) population, sample, and inference; (2)…