OUTLINE FOR CHAPTER 8 (Part 2)

1. Significance Testing
   1. The Component Parts of Significance Testing:
      1. State a null hypothesis
      2. Make a one-tailed versus two-tailed decision
      3. Compute a calculated value
      4. Determine the data-based p-value
      5. Assessing the likelihood that Ho is true
   2. Significance Testing Using "p-less-than" and "p-greater-than" Statements:
      1. If the precise p-value can't be computed, the researcher might say something like "p<.001" or "p > .15" (but the number to the right of "<" or ">"  isn't the a-level, because there's no a in significance testing
      2. Statements in which p is "bracketed" (e.g., ".01 < p < .05" ) might also come from statistical testing

2. A Popular Hybrid: Significance Testing With an a-Level
   1. The simple idea of the "hybrid" approach that combines parts hypothesis testing and significance testing
   2. "Marginal significance" and other terms for "near misses"
   3. The notion of "highly significant"
   4. Reporting fail-to-reject decisions with "p-less-than" statements
   5. The "one-sided" alternative to the hybrid approach
   6. The 7-, 8-, and 10-step versions of the hybrid approach

3. A Few Warnings
   1. The importance of Ho
   2. The meaning of the data-based probability
   3. The subjective interpretation of p
   4. The meaning of "p = .0000"
   5. "Resetting" the level of significance

Copyright © 2003 Schuyler W. Huck
All rights reserved.