Statistical Significance: Rationale, Validity and Utility

Comprehensive and accessible, Statistical Significance covers the central and most fundamental methodological issue for empirical researchers: How should statistical significance be interpreted? Author Siu L. Chow provides a thorough introduction to null-hypothesis testing and statistical significance and summarizes the argument for and against the current interpretations as well as the use of significance testing in research. The author provides a coherent challenge to contemporary criticism of significance testing and offers a substantial and thought-provoking contribution to the debate on the proper role of statistical significance in empirical research. This clear and wide-ranging book will be of interest to all empirical researchers and students who use statistics in the social, behavioral, and biological sciences as well as required reading for all statisticians and research methodologists. Statistical Significance will also be of interest to students and academics in the philosophy of science.

Siu L Chow is Professor of Psychology at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.