title: [AS Eddington: Prokrustes and the fisherman--the ambiguous meaning of the word significance in biological and medical research].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Statistical significance and biological/medical significance are not equivalent and should be distinguished from one another.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pertinent data gleaned from the world literature have been analyzed and appraised.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A semi-schematic display of the available data facilitates an overview of the relevant statistical quantities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The significance level of experimental findings should be gauged in accordance with the clinical requirements.
authors.affiliation: Lindenhofspital Bern.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fankhauser
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016008:Statistical Distributions