title: Thoughts About Theories and Statistics.
abstract: The purpose of this essay is to share my ideas about the connection between theories and statistics. The essay content reflects my concerns about some researchers' and readers' apparent lack of clarity about what constitutes appropriate statistical testing and conclusions about the empirical adequacy of theories. The reciprocal relation between theories and statistics is emphasized and the conclusion is that statistics without direction from theory is no more than a hobby.
authors.affiliation: Professor, University of Massachusetts Boston.
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fawcett
mesh_terms: D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical
keywords: hypothesis-testing; statistics; theory