The 0.05 boundary within Null Hypothesis Statistical Testing (NHST) "has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move" (to quote Douglas Adams). Here, we move past meta-scientific arguments and ask an empirical question: What is the psychological standing of the 0.05 boundary for statistical significance? We…

We investigate two non-iterative estimation procedures for Rasch models, the pair-wise estimation procedure (PAIR) and the Eigenvector method (EVM), and identify theoretical issues with EVM for rating scale model (RSM) threshold estimation. We develop a new procedure to resolve these issues--the conditional pairwise adjacent thresholds procedure…

This article presents two alternative methods to null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) for improving inferences from underpowered research designs. Post hoc design analysis (PHDA) assesses whether an NHST analysis generating null findings might otherwise have had sufficient power to detect effects of plausible magnitudes. Bayesian analysis…

Purpose: Null hypothesis significance testing is commonly used in audiology research to determine the presence of an effect. Knowledge of study outcomes, including nonsignificant findings, is important for evidence-based practice. Nonsignificant "p" values obtained from null hypothesis significance testing cannot differentiate between…

Students often believe that statistical significance is the only determinant of whether a quantitative result is "important." In this paper, I review traditional null hypothesis statistical testing to identify what questions inferential statistics can and cannot answer, including statistical significance, effect size and direction,…

Formal empirical assessments of replication have recently become more prominent in several areas of science, including psychology. These assessments have used different statistical approaches to determine if a finding has been replicated. The purpose of this article is to provide several alternative conceptual frameworks that lead to different…

For the two-way factorial design in analysis of variance, the current article explicates and compares three methods for controlling the Type I error rate for all possible simple interaction contrasts following a statistically significant interaction, including a proposed modification to the Bonferroni procedure that increases the power of…

This article considers the nature and place of tests of statistical significance (ToSS) in science, with particular reference to psychology. Despite the enormous amount of attention given to this topic, psychology's understanding of ToSS remains deficient. The major problem stems from a widespread and uncritical acceptance of null hypothesis…

Purpose: Evidence-based data analysis methods are important in clinical research fields, including speech-language pathology and audiology. Although commonly used, null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) has several limitations with regard to the conclusions that can be drawn from results, particularly nonsignificant findings. Bayes factors…

In their response to our paper, Nicholson and Ridgway agree with the majority of what we wrote. They echo our concerns about the misuse of inferential statistics and NHST in particular. Very little of their response explicitly challenges the points we made but where it does their defence of the use of inferential techniques does not stand up to…

Structured means analysis is a very useful approach for testing hypotheses about population means on latent constructs. In such models, a z test is most commonly used for testing the statistical significance of the relevant parameter estimates or of the differences between parameter estimates, where a z value is computed based on the asymptotic…

The study determined a significant difference in teachers' overall evaluations of six recommended Financial Accounting Textbooks in Southwestern Nigeria. It also assessed the specific evaluation parameters that account for the difference. It adopted the survey research design. The multistage sampling technique was used to select a total of 80…

White and Gorard make important and relevant criticisms of some of the methods commonly used in social science research, but go further by criticising the logical basis for inferential statistical tests. This paper comments briefly on matters we broadly agree on with them and more fully on matters where we disagree. We agree that too little…

The principal focus of this study was to undertake a multilevel assessment of the predictive validity of teacher made tests in the Zimbabwean primary education sector. A correlational research design was adopted for the study, mainly to allow for statistical treatment of data and subsequent classical hypotheses testing using the spearman's rho.…

The study aimed to investigate school bullying impact on students' academic achievement from teachers' perspective in Jordanian schools. The study used a descriptive analytical methodology. The research sample consisted of all schools' teachers in Amman West Area (in Jordan). The sample size consisted of 200 teachers selected from different…