Fallacies of Statistical Significance

摘要

Statistical significance (or hypothesis) tests, and the related concept of p-values, are popular tools in statistical data analysis. Unfortunately, the practical implications of statistical significance often turn out to be limited and are frequently misinterpreted and overstated, or even stated Incorrectly. This column—in the context of product reliability data analysis—will address the important distinction between statistical significance and practical significance, and urge practitioners to carry their analyses beyond significance tests—often by constructing appropriate confidence intervals.