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Statistical tests, P values, confidence intervals, and power: a guide to misinterpretations - PMC

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov · 9,540 words · saved by 1 readers

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Abstract Misinterpretation and abuse of statistical tests, confidence intervals, and statistical power have been decried for decades, yet remain rampant. A key problem is that there are no interpretations of these concepts that are at once simple, intuitive, correct, and foolproof. Instead, correct use and interpretation of these statistics requires an attention to detail which seems to tax the patience of working scientists. This high cognitive demand has led to an epidemic of shortcut definitions and interpretations that are simply wrong, sometimes disastrously so—and yet these…

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