6533b834fe1ef96bd129cbd7

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Manipulating the alpha level cannot cure significance testing

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description

We argue that making accept/reject decisions on scientific hypotheses, including a recent call for changing the canonical alpha level from p = 0.05 to p = 0.005, is deleterious for the finding of new discoveries and the progress of science. Given that blanket and variable alpha levels both are problematic, it is sensible to dispense with significance testing altogether. There are alternatives that address study design and sample size much more directly than significance testing does; but none of the statistical tools should be taken as the new magic method giving clear-cut mechanical answers. Inference should not be based on single studies at all, but on cumulative evidence from multiple independent studies. When evaluating the strength of the evidence, we should consider, for example, auxiliary assumptions, the strength of the experimental design, and implications for applications. To boil all this down to a binary decision based on a p-value threshold of 0.05, 0.01, 0.005, or anything else, is not acceptable. Fil: Trafimow, David. New Mexico State University Las Cruces; Fil: Amrhein, Valentin. Universitat Basel, Zoologisches Institut; Fil: Areshenkoff, Corson N.. Queen's University, Kingston; Canadá Fil: Barrera-Causil, Carlos J.. Metropolitan Institute Of Technology;; Colombia Fil: Beh, Eric J.. Universidad de Newcastle; Australia Fil: Bilgiç, Yusuf K.. State University Of New York Geneseo; Estados Unidos Fil: Bono, Roser. Universidad de Barcelona;; España Fil: Bradley, Michael T.. University Of New Brunswick; Canadá Fil: Briggs, William M.. University Of New Brunswick; Canadá Fil: Cepeda-Freyre, Héctor A.. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla; México Fil: Chaigneau, Sergio E.. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile Fil: Ciocca, Daniel Ramon. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentina Fil: Correa, Juan C.. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; Colombia Fil: Cousineau, Denis. University of Ottawa; Canadá Fil: de Boer, Michiel R.. Amsterdam Public Health; Países Bajos Fil: Dhar, Subhra S.. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Fil: Dolgov, Igor. New Mexico State University Las Cruces; Estados Unidos Fil: Gómez-Benito, Juana. Universidad de Barcelona;; España Fil: Grendar, Marian. Slovenskej Akadémie Vied Ústav Merania Je Vedeckou Inštitúciou; República Checa Fil: Grice, James W.. Oklahoma State University - Stillwater; Estados Unidos Fil: Guerrero-Gimenez, Martin E.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentina Fil: Gutiérrez, Andrés. Saint Thomas University; Colombia Fil: Huedo-Medina, Tania B.. University of Connecticut;Estados Unidos ; Estados Unidos Fil: Jaffe, Klaus. Universidad Simón Bolívar; Venezuela Fil: Janyan, Armina. New Bulgarian University; Bulgaria Fil: Karimnezhad, Ali. University of Ottawa; Canadá Fil: Korner-Nievergelt, Fränzi. Swiss Ornithological Institute; Suiza Fil: Kosugi, Koji. Senshu University; Japón Fil: Lachmair, Martin. Leibniz-institut Für Wissensmedien; Alemania Fil: Ledesma, Ruben Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina