@misc{cogprints837, volume = {21}, number = {2}, month = {April}, author = {Siu L. Chow}, title = {The null-hypothesis significance-test procedure is still warranted}, journal = {Behavioral and Brain Sciences}, pages = {228--235}, year = {1998}, keywords = {Statistical signficance, statistical hypothesis testing, corroboration of substantive hypothesis, effect size, statistical power, Bayesianism, statistical null hypothesis, statistcal alternative hypothesis, alternative substantive hypothesis}, url = {http://cogprints.org/837/}, abstract = {Abstract: Entertaining diverse assumptions about empirical research, commentators give a wide range of verdicts on the NHSTP defence in Statistical Significance. The null-hypothesis significance-test procedure (NHSTP) is defended in a framework in which deductive and inductive rules are deployed in theory corroboration in the spirit of Popper's Conjectures and Refutations (1968b). The defensible hypothetico-deductive structure of the framework is used to make explicit the distinctions between (1) substantive and statistical hypotheses, (2) statistical alternative and conceptual alternative hypotheses, and (3) making statistical decisions and drawing theoretical conclusions. These distinctions make it easier to show that (1) H0 can he true,, (2) the effect size is irrelevant to theory corroboration, and (3) "strong" hypotheses make no difference to NHSTP. Reservations about statistical power, meta-analysis, and the Bayesian approach are still warranted.} }