Three common misuses of P values.
"Significance" has a specific meaning in science, especially in statistics. The p-value as a measure of statistical significance (evidence against a null hypothesis) has long been used in statistical inference and has served as a key player in science and research. Despite its clear mathematical definition and original purpose, and being just one of the many statistical measures/criteria, its role has been over-emphasized along with hypothesis testing. Observing and reflecting on this practice, some journals have attempted to ban reporting of p-values, and the American Statistical Association (for the first time in its 177 year old history) released a statement on p-values in 2016. In this article, we intend to review the correct definition of the p-value as well as its common misuses, in the hope that our article is useful to clinicians and researchers.
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul Sacred Heart General Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
Jeehyoung
J
Kim
Division of Biostatistics, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California, Davis, USA.
Heejung
H
Bang
confidence interval; multiple testing; p-value plot
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