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Contributed paper list


   (Friday 7th, 10:30-12:30)

Problems when interpreting research results using only p-value and sample size


Authors

Rink Hoekstra, Henk A L Kiers, Addie Johnson, Marleen Groenier

Presenter


Abstract

The following three probabilities seem crucial when interpreting data, especially in the behavioral sciences:1) the probability that an effect is present in the population, 2) the probability that a replication is significant; and 3) the probability that the effect for a single individual in the population is in the expected direction. In our study, we asked 51 subjects (university students and lecturers in psychology) to estimate these probabilities after reading a short description of a hypothetical experiment with as outcomes only p-value and sample size given. Large variations in estimated probabilities were found. However estimates of the probabilities tended to increase as a positive function of sample size for a fixed p-value. Simulation studies show that , assuming a uniform prior distribution for the parameter, this turns out to be incorrect for all three probabilities.