Reform of Statistical Inference in Psychology: the Case Of<Emphasis
Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 2004, 36 (2), 312-324 ARTICLES Reform of statistical inference in psychology: The case of Memory & Cognition SUE FINCH University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and GEOFF CUMMING, JENNIFER WILLIAMS, LEE PALMER, ELVIRA GRIFFITH, CHRIS ALDERS, JAMES ANDERSON, and OLIVIA GOODMAN La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Geoffrey Loftus, Editor of Memory & Cognition from 1994 to 1997, strongly encouraged presenta- tion of figures with error bars and avoidance of null hypothesis significance testing (NHST). The au- thors examined 696 Memory & Cognition articles published before, during, and after the Loftus edi- torship. Use of figures with bars increased to 47% under Loftus’s editorship and then declined. Bars were rarely used for interpretation, and NHST remained almost universal. Analysis of 309 articles in other psychology journals confirmed that Loftus’s influence was most evident in the articles he ac- cepted for publication, but was otherwise limited. An e-mail survey of authors of papers accepted by Loftus revealed some support for his policy, but allegiance to traditional practices as well. Reform of psychologists’ statistical practices would require more than editorial encouragement. Critics have long argued that null hypothesis signifi- the use of alternatives to NHST. Recommendations include cance testing (NHST) is often inappropriately used by the reporting of exact p values, effect sizes, and confidence psychologists to make binary decisions about whether an intervals (CIs) and use of graphical displays to investigate effect exists or not (e.g., Bakan, 1966; Carver, 1978, 1993; the data, and communicate information about their distrib- Cohen, 1990, 1994; Hammond, 1996; Harlow, Mulaik, & ution and inferential statistics.
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