Arbeitspapier
Misinterpreting a failure to disconfirm as a confirmation: A recurrent misreading of significance tests
When a significance test fails to disconfirm a hypothesis economist often interpret this as evidence that this hypothesis is valid. Six such examples are cited from recent journals. But this is a misinterpretation of what significance tests show. Presumably this misinterpretation is founded on the valid principle that every failure to disconfirm a hypothesis adds to its credibility. But that principle defines a failure to disconfirm in a way that differs sharply from the way that this phrase is used in the context of significance tests. Some ways of ameliorating this problem exist.
- Language
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Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
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Series: Working Paper ; No. 01-8
- Classification
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Wirtschaft
- Subject
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significance tests
t values
t coefficients
confirmation
Statistischer Test
Theorie
- Event
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Geistige Schöpfung
- (who)
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Mayer, Thomas
- Event
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Veröffentlichung
- (who)
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University of California, Department of Economics
- (where)
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Davis, CA
- (when)
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2001
- Handle
- Last update
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10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET
Data provider
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Object type
- Arbeitspapier
Associated
- Mayer, Thomas
- University of California, Department of Economics
Time of origin
- 2001