A Communication Researchers’ Guide to Null Hypothesis Significance Testing and Alternatives
نویسندگان
چکیده
This paper offers a practical guide to use null hypotheses significance testing and its alternatives. The focus is on improving the quality of statistical inference in quantitative communication research. More consistent reporting of descriptive statistics, estimates of effect size, confidence intervals around effect sizes, and increasing the statistical power of tests would lead to needed improvements over current practices. Alternatives including confidence intervals, effect tests, equivalence tests, and metaanalysis are discussed.
منابع مشابه
Inference in ecology and evolution.
Most ecologists and evolutionary biologists continue to rely heavily on null hypothesis significance testing, rather than on recently advocated alternatives, for inference. Here, we briefly review null hypothesis significance testing and its major alternatives. We identify major objectives of statistical analysis and suggest which analytical approaches are appropriate for each. Any well designe...
متن کاملA Critical Assessment of Null Hypothesis Significance Testing in Quantitative Communication Research
Null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) is the most widely accepted and frequently used approach to statistical inference in quantitative communication research. NHST, however, is highly controversial, and several serious problems with the approach have been identified. This paper reviews NHST and the controversy surrounding it. Commonly recognized problems include a sensitivity to sample s...
متن کاملTesting a Point Null Hypothesis against One-Sided for Non Regular and Exponential Families: The Reconcilability Condition to P-values and Posterior Probability
In this paper, the reconcilability between the P-value and the posterior probability in testing a point null hypothesis against the one-sided hypothesis is considered. Two essential families, non regular and exponential family of distributions, are studied. It was shown in a non regular family of distributions; in some cases, it is possible to find a prior distribution function under which P-va...
متن کاملIs There a Free Lunch in Inference?
The field of psychology, including cognitive science, is vexed by a crisis of confidence. Although the causes and solutions are varied, we focus here on a common logical problem in inference. The default mode of inference is significance testing, which has a free lunch property where researchers need not make detailed assumptions about the alternative to test the null hypothesis. We present the...
متن کاملCalculating the main alternatives to null-hypothesis-significance testing in between-subject experimental designs.
The present article deals with the controversy about null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) that currently exists in psychological research. The main criticisms and counter-criticisms posed by its detractors and supporters are presented. Alternatives have been proposed to replace or complement the NHST, as recommended by the Task Force on Statistical Inference of the APA, and these are exp...
متن کامل