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Journal ArticleDOI

Researchers misunderstand confidence intervals and standard error bars.

TLDR
Results suggest that many leading researchers have severe misconceptions about how error bars relate to statistical significance, do not adequately distinguish CIs and SE bars, and do not appreciate the importance of whether the 2 means are independent or come from a repeated measures design.
Abstract
Little is known about researchers' understanding of confidence intervals (CIs) and standard error (SE) bars. Authors of journal articles in psychology, behavioral neuroscience, and medicine were invited to visit a Web site where they adjusted a figure until they judged 2 means, with error bars, to be just statistically significantly different (p < .05). Results from 473 respondents suggest that many leading researchers have severe misconceptions about how error bars relate to statistical significance, do not adequately distinguish CIs and SE bars, and do not appreciate the importance of whether the 2 means are independent or come from a repeated measures design. Better guidelines for researchers and less ambiguous graphical conventions are needed before the advantages of CIs for research communication can be realized.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

Inference by eye: confidence intervals and how to read pictures of data.

TL;DR: 7 rules of eye are proposed to guide the inferential use of figures with error bars and include guidelines for inferential interpretation of the overlap of CIs on independent group means.
Journal ArticleDOI

Error bars in experimental biology

TL;DR: This article illustrates some basic features of error bars and explains how they can help communicate data and assist correct interpretation and suggests eight simple rules to assist with effective use and interpretation.
Journal ArticleDOI

Variables associated with achievement in higher education: A systematic review of meta-analyses.

TL;DR: The results highlight the close relation between social interaction in courses and achievement and suggest teachers, university administrators, and policymakers can increase the effectivity of higher education by using these findings.
Book

Bayesian Methods for Ecology

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a tutorial for running WinBUGS and a case study of Mark-Recapture analysis with MCMC algorithms, as well as an analysis of variance and population dynamics.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

The earth is round (p < .05)

TL;DR: The authors reviewed the problems with null hypothesis significance testing, including near universal misinterpretation of p as the probability that H is false, the misinterpretation that its complement is the probability of successful replication, and the mistaken assumption that if one rejects H₀ one thereby affirms the theory that led to the test.
Journal ArticleDOI

Statistical Methods in Psychology Journals: Guidelines and Explanations

TL;DR: The Task Force on Statistical Inference (TFSI) of the American Psychological Association (APA) as discussed by the authors was formed to discuss the application of significance testing in psychology journals and its alternatives, including alternative underlying models and data transformation.
Journal ArticleDOI

Things I Have Learned (So Far).

TL;DR: The application of statistics to psychology and the other sociobiomedical sciences has been studied extensively as discussed by the authors, including the principles "less is more" (fewer variables, more highly targeted issues, sharp rounding off), "simple is better" (graphic representation, unit weighting for linear composites), and "some things you learn aren't so."
Book

Statistics with Confidence : Confidence Intervals and Statistical Guidelines

TL;DR: This comprehensive collection of methods for using confidence intervals, illustrative worked examples and helpful checklists this is a truly practical guide for clinical readers to a fundamental aspect of medical statistics.
Journal ArticleDOI

Inference by eye: confidence intervals and how to read pictures of data.

TL;DR: 7 rules of eye are proposed to guide the inferential use of figures with error bars and include guidelines for inferential interpretation of the overlap of CIs on independent group means.