The Case Against Statistical Significance Testing

Abstract

In recent years the use of traditional statistical methods in educational research has increasingly come under attack. In this article, Ronald P Carver exposes the fantasies often entertained by researchers about the meaning of statistical significance. The author recommends abandoning all statistical significance testing and suggests other ways of evaluating research results. Carver concludes that we should return to the scientific method of examining data and replicating results rather than relying on statistical significance testing to provide equivalent information. Statistical significance testing has involved more fantasy than fact. The emphasis on statistical significance over scientific significance in educational research represents a corrupt form of the scientific method. Educational research would be better off if it stopped testing its results for statistical significance. The case against statistical significance testing has been developed by many critics (see Morrison & Henkel, 1970b). For example, after a detailed analysis Bakan (1966) concluded that "the test of statistical significance in psychological research may be taken as an instance of a kind of essential mindlessness in the conduct of research " (p. 436); and as early as 1963

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Ronald P. Carver (1978). The Case Against Statistical Significance Testing. Harvard Educational Review. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.48.3.t490261645281841

@article{p1978the,
  title  = {The Case Against Statistical Significance Testing},
  author = {Carver, Ronald P.},
  year   = {1978},
  journal = {Harvard Educational Review},
  doi    = {10.17763/haer.48.3.t490261645281841}
}

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