The Significance Test Controversy

A Reader

Buch | Softcover

352 Seiten

2006
AldineTransaction (Verlag)
978-0-202-30879-1 (ISBN)

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Tests of significance have been a key tool in the research kit of behavioral scientists for nearly fifty years, but their widespread and uncritical use has recently led to a rising volume of controversy about their usefulness. This book gathers the central papers in this continuing debate, brings the issues into clear focus, points out practical problems and philosophical pitfalls involved in using the tests, and provides a benchmark from which further analysis can proceed.The papers deal with some of the basic philosophy of science, mathematical and statistical assumptions connected with significance tests and the problems of the interpretation of test results, but the work is essentially non-technical in its emphasis. The collection succeeds in raising a variety of questions about the value of the tests; taken together, the questions present a strong case for vital reform in test use, if not for their total abandonment in research.The book is designed for practicing researchers-those not extensively trained in mathematics and statistics that must nevertheless regularly decide if and how tests of significance are to be used-and for those training for research. While controversy has been centered in sociology and psychology, and the book will be especially useful to researchers and students in those fields, its importance is great across the spectrum of the scientific disciplines in which statistical procedures are essential-notably political science, economics, and the other social sciences, education, and many biological fields as well.Denton E. Morrison is professor, Department of Sociology, Michigan State University.Ramon E. Henkel is associate professor emeritus, Department of Sociology University of Maryland. He teaches as part of the graduate faculty.

Denton E. Morrison is professor, Department of Sociology, Michigan State University. Ramon E. Henkel is associate professor emeritus, Department of Sociology University of Maryland. He teaches as part of the graduate faculty.

Introduction: A Preview of the Issues and an Overview of the Readings; One: Critical Historical Context; Introduction; 1: The Contemporary Crisis or the Uncertainties of Uncertain Inference; 2: Statistical Prudence and Statistical Inference; 3: Significance as Interpreted by the School of R. A. Fisher; Two: The Controversy in Sociology; Introduction; 4: The Notion of a Hypothetical Universe; 5: The Significance of Insignificant Differences; 6: Statistical Problems; 7: Note on Significance Tests; 8: Some Pitfalls of Data Analysis Without a Formal Criterion; 9: A Critique of Tests of Significance in Survey Research; 10: Comment on “A Critique of Tests of” Significance; 11: Reply to Gold’s Comment on “A Critique of Tests of Significance”; 12: On “A Critique of Tests of Significance in Survey Research”; 13: Reply to Beshers; 14: Randomization and Inference in Sociological Research; 15: Some Statistical Problems in Research Design; 16: Theory, Probability, and Induction in Social Research; 17: The Sacredness of .05; 18: Common Misinterpretations of Significance Levels in Sociological Journals; 19: Criteria for Selecting a Significance Level:; 20: Statistical Tests and Substantive Significance; 21: Significance Tests Reconsidered; 22: Proof? No. Evidence? Yes. The Significance of Tests of Significance; Three: Criticism by Psychologists; Introduction; 23: The Statistical Concepts of Confidence and Significance; 24: The Fallacy of the Null Hypothesis Significance Test; 25: The Test of Significance in Psychological Research; 26: Theory Testing in Psychology and Physics; 27: Statistical Significance in Psychological Research; Four: Criticism from Other Quarters; Introduction; 28: Tests of Significance Considered as Evidence; 29: Publication Decisions and Their Possible Effects on Inferences Drawn from Tests of Significance—or Vice Versa; 30: Publication Decisions and Tests of Significance; Five: Epilogue; 31: Significance Tests in Behavioral Research

Verlagsort	Somerset
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	589 g
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Empirische Sozialforschung
ISBN-10	0-202-30879-0 / 0202308790
ISBN-13	978-0-202-30879-1 / 9780202308791
Zustand	Neuware