About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherTaylor & Francis Group

ISBN-100202308790

ISBN-139780202308791

eBay Product ID (ePID)53480224

Product Key Features

Number of Pages352 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameSignificance Test Controversy : a Reader

SubjectMovements / Psychoanalysis, Sociology / General, Probability & Statistics / General, Research, Statistics

Publication Year2006

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaMathematics, Social Science, Psychology

AuthorRamon E. Henkel

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.9 in

Item Weight20.9 Oz

Item Length9 in

Item Width6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceCollege Audience

LCCN2006-042891

TitleLeadingThe

Reviews"This is a comprehensive collection of papers focused on the use of significance tests for inferential purposes.... The strength of the book lies in the diverse perspectives of the papers." --Lews F. Carter, Social Forces "This book by Morrison and Henkel is a book for all those who use tests of statistical significance. More, it is a book for all those who read scientific reports which use tests of statistical significance. This means it is a book for nearly all of us." --Raoul Naroll, American Anthropologist "[The] intention of the book is to make practicing behavioral scientists more critically aware of some of the limitations of their most ubiquitous statistical technique." --P. S. Taylor, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series D (The Statistician)

Grade FromEleventh Grade

IllustratedYes

Table Of ContentIntroduction: A Preview of the Issues and an Overview of the Readings; One: Critical Historical Context; Introduction; 1: The Contemporary Crisis or the Uncertainties of Uncertain Inference; 2: Statistical Prudence and Statistical Inference; 3: Significance as Interpreted by the School of R. A. Fisher; Two: The Controversy in Sociology; Introduction; 4: The Notion of a Hypothetical Universe; 5: The Significance of Insignificant Differences; 6: Statistical Problems; 7: Note on Significance Tests; 8: Some Pitfalls of Data Analysis Without a Formal Criterion; 9: A Critique of Tests of Significance in Survey Research; 10: Comment on "A Critique of Tests of" Significance; 11: Reply to Gold's Comment on "A Critique of Tests of Significance"; 12: On "A Critique of Tests of Significance in Survey Research"; 13: Reply to Beshers; 14: Randomization and Inference in Sociological Research; 15: Some Statistical Problems in Research Design; 16: Theory, Probability, and Induction in Social Research; 17: The Sacredness of .05; 18: Common Misinterpretations of Significance Levels in Sociological Journals; 19: Criteria for Selecting a Significance Level:; 20: Statistical Tests and Substantive Significance; 21: Significance Tests Reconsidered; 22: Proof? No. Evidence? Yes. The Significance of Tests of Significance; Three: Criticism by Psychologists; Introduction; 23: The Statistical Concepts of Confidence and Significance; 24: The Fallacy of the Null Hypothesis Significance Test; 25: The Test of Significance in Psychological Research; 26: Theory Testing in Psychology and Physics; 27: Statistical Significance in Psychological Research; Four: Criticism from Other Quarters; Introduction; 28: Tests of Significance Considered as Evidence; 29: Publication Decisions and Their Possible Effects on Inferences Drawn from Tests of Significance--or Vice Versa; 30: Publication Decisions and Tests of Significance; Five: Epilogue; 31: Significance Tests in Behavioral Research

SynopsisAlavi examines the factors used by the British when forming the East India Company's Bengal Army in the period 1770-1830. These factors, such as knship groups, diet, and caste as well as financial incentives offered by pension schemes and invalid pay, provided a loyal high-status army for the emerging colonial authority., Tests of significance have been a key tool in the research kit of behavioral scientists for nearly fifty years, but their widespread and uncritical use has recently led to a rising volume of controversy about their usefulness. This book gathers the central papers in this continuing debate, brings the issues into clear focus, points out practical problems and philosophical pitfalls involved in using the tests, and provides a benchmark from which further analysis can proceed.The papers deal with some of the basic philosophy of science, mathematical and statistical assumptions connected with significance tests and the problems of the interpretation of test results, but the work is essentially non-technical in its emphasis. The collection succeeds in raising a variety of questions about the value of the tests; taken together, the questions present a strong case for vital reform in test use, if not for their total abandonment in research.The book is designed for practicing researchers-those not extensively trained in mathematics and statistics that must nevertheless regularly decide if and how tests of significance are to be used-and for those training for research. While controversy has been centered in sociology and psychology, and the book will be especially useful to researchers and students in those fields, its importance is great across the spectrum of the scientific disciplines in which statistical procedures are essential-notably political science, economics, and the other social sciences, education, and many biological fields as well.Denton E. Morrison is professor, Department of Sociology, Michigan State University.Ramon E. Henkel is associate professor emeritus, Department of Sociology University of Maryland. He teaches as part of the graduate faculty., Tests of significance have been a key tool in the research kit of behavioral scientists for nearly fifty years, but their widespread and uncritical use has recently led to a rising volume of controversy about their usefulness

LC Classification NumberHA33.M67 2006