CS&SS Seminar on the Limits of Traditional Null Hypothesis Testing (2/12/25)

Posted: 2/7/2025 (Local Events)

At the weekly seminar hosted by the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences (CSSS), Dr. Yuichi Shoda (Psychology) will present on the limits of traditional null hypothesis significance testing in scientific endeavors. For example, increasing the precision of a study (e.g., by increasing the sample size) makes it easier to find statistical significance, with the result that any theory predicting a non-zero effect is considered supported—even if it explains only a small portion of the phenomenon of interest. This is not the case when using the “null regions framework” if the observed value falls within the “null region”—the range of population values that researchers aim to rule out (e.g., effects or associations that are too small to matter, even if not exactly zero). This framework provides tests to address questions such as: “Is the effect strong enough to matter?” and “Is the effect close enough to the predicted value to suggest that the theory that predicted it should be retained?” Learn more here.