Skip to main content
Typo
Source Link

Of course, bear in mind that, as many other answerers have already mentioned, the null hypothesis is not chosen at random -- instead, it is usually chosen specifically specifically because, based on prior theory, the scientist believes it to be false. Unfortunately, it is hard to quantify the proportion of times that scientists are correct in their predictions, but bear in mind that, when scientists are dealing with the "$H_0$ is false" column, they should be worried about false negatives rather than false positives.

Publication bias is not the only way that, under the null hypothesis, the probability of publishing a significant result will be greater than $\alpha$. When used improperly, certain areas of flexibility in the design of studies and analysis of data, which are sometimes labeled researcher degrees of freedom (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011), can increase the rate of false positives, even when there is no publication bias. For example, if we assume that, upon obtaining a non-significant result, all (or some) scientists will exclude one outlying data point if this exclusion will change the non-significant result into a significant one, the rate of false positives will be highergreater than .05$\alpha$. Given the presence of a large enough number of questionable research practices, the rate of false positives can go as high as 60%.60 even if the nominal rate was set at .05 (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011).

It's important to note that the improper use of researcher degrees of freedom (which is sometimes known as a questionable research practice; Martinson, Anderson, & de Vries, 2005) is not the same as making up data. In some cases, excluding outliers is the right thing to do, either because equipment fails or for some other reason. The key issue is that, in the presence of researcher degrees of freedom, the method ofdecisions made during analysis is often dependentdepend on how the data that are obtainedturn out (Gelman & Loken, 2014), even if the researchers in question are not aware of this fact. As long as researchers use researcher degrees of freedom (consciously or unconsciously) to increase the probability of a significant result (perhaps because significant results are more "publishable"), the presence of researcher degrees of freedom will overpopulate a research literature with false positives in the same way as publication bias.

Fundamentally, I agree with your intuition that null hypothesis significance testing can go wrong. However, I would argue that the true culprits producing a high rate of false positives are processes like publication bias and the presence of researcher degrees of freedom. Indeed, many scientists are well aware of these problems, and improving scientific reproducability is a very active current topic of discussion (e.g., Nosek & Bar-Anan, 2012; Nosek, Spies, & Motyl, 2012). So you are in good company with your concerns, but I also think there are also reasons for some cautious optimism.

Of course, bear in mind that, as many other answerers have already mentioned, the null hypothesis is not chosen at random -- instead, it is usually chosen specifically specifically because, based on prior theory, the scientist believes it to be false. Unfortunately, it is hard to quantify the proportion of times that scientists are correct in their predictions, but bear in mind that, when scientists are dealing with the "$H_0$ is false" column, they should be worried about false negatives rather than false positives.

Publication bias is not the only way that, under the null hypothesis, the probability of publishing a significant result be greater than $\alpha$. When used improperly, certain areas of flexibility in the design of studies and analysis of data, which are sometimes labeled researcher degrees of freedom (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011), can increase the rate of false positives, even when there is no publication bias. For example, if we assume that, upon obtaining a non-significant result, all (or some) scientists will exclude one outlying data point if this exclusion will change the non-significant result into a significant one, the rate of false positives will be higher than .05. Given the presence of a large enough number of questionable research practices, the rate of false positives can go as high as 60% (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011).

It's important to note that the improper use of researcher degrees of freedom (which is sometimes known as a questionable research practice; Martinson, Anderson, & de Vries, 2005) is not the same as making up data. In some cases, excluding outliers is the right thing to do, either because equipment fails or for some other reason. The key issue is that, in the presence of researcher degrees of freedom, the method of analysis is often dependent on the data that are obtained (Gelman & Loken, 2014), even if the researchers in question are not aware of this fact. As long as researchers use researcher degrees of freedom (consciously or unconsciously) to increase the probability of a significant result (perhaps because significant results are more "publishable"), the presence of researcher degrees of freedom will overpopulate a research literature with false positives in the same way as publication bias.

Fundamentally, I agree with your intuition that null hypothesis significance testing can go wrong. However, I would argue that the true culprits producing a high rate of false positives are processes like publication bias and the presence of researcher degrees of freedom. Indeed, many scientists are well aware of these problems, and improving scientific reproducability is a very active current topic of discussion (e.g., Nosek & Bar-Anan, 2012; Nosek, Spies, & Motyl, 2012). So you are in good company with your concerns, but I also think there are reasons for some cautious optimism.

Of course, bear in mind that, as many other answerers have already mentioned, the null hypothesis is not chosen at random -- instead, it is usually chosen specifically because, based on prior theory, the scientist believes it to be false. Unfortunately, it is hard to quantify the proportion of times that scientists are correct in their predictions, but bear in mind that, when scientists are dealing with the "$H_0$ is false" column, they should be worried about false negatives rather than false positives.

Publication bias is not the only way that, under the null hypothesis, the probability of publishing a significant result will be greater than $\alpha$. When used improperly, certain areas of flexibility in the design of studies and analysis of data, which are sometimes labeled researcher degrees of freedom (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011), can increase the rate of false positives, even when there is no publication bias. For example, if we assume that, upon obtaining a non-significant result, all (or some) scientists will exclude one outlying data point if this exclusion will change the non-significant result into a significant one, the rate of false positives will be greater than $\alpha$. Given the presence of a large enough number of questionable research practices, the rate of false positives can go as high as .60 even if the nominal rate was set at .05 (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011).

It's important to note that the improper use of researcher degrees of freedom (which is sometimes known as a questionable research practice; Martinson, Anderson, & de Vries, 2005) is not the same as making up data. In some cases, excluding outliers is the right thing to do, either because equipment fails or for some other reason. The key issue is that, in the presence of researcher degrees of freedom, the decisions made during analysis often depend on how the data turn out (Gelman & Loken, 2014), even if the researchers in question are not aware of this fact. As long as researchers use researcher degrees of freedom (consciously or unconsciously) to increase the probability of a significant result (perhaps because significant results are more "publishable"), the presence of researcher degrees of freedom will overpopulate a research literature with false positives in the same way as publication bias.

Fundamentally, I agree with your intuition that null hypothesis significance testing can go wrong. However, I would argue that the true culprits producing a high rate of false positives are processes like publication bias and the presence of researcher degrees of freedom. Indeed, many scientists are well aware of these problems, and improving scientific reproducability is a very active current topic of discussion (e.g., Nosek & Bar-Anan, 2012; Nosek, Spies, & Motyl, 2012). So you are in good company with your concerns, but I also think there are also reasons for some cautious optimism.

added 120 characters in body
Source Link

The general issue thatof the probability of publication depending on the observed $p$-value is what is meant by publication bias. If we take a step back and think about the implications of a publication bias onfor a broader research literature, a research literature affected by publication bias will still contain true results -- sometimes the null hypothesis that a scientist claims to be false really will be false, and, depending on the degree of publication bias, sometimes a scientist will correctly claim that a given nullnull hypothesis is true. However, the research literature will also be cluttered up by too large a proportion of false positives (i.e., studies in which the researcher claims that the null hypothesis is false when really it's true).

Publication bias is not the only way that, under the null hypothesis, the probability of publishing a false positive cansignificant result be greater than $\alpha$. When used improperly, certain areas of flexibility in the design of studies and analysis of data, which are sometimes labeled researcher degrees of freedom (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011), can increase the probability that a resultrate of false positives, even when there is significant under the null hypothesisno publication bias. ForFor example, if we assume that, upon obtaining a non-significant result, all (or some) scientists will exclude one outlying data point if this exclusion will change the non-significant result into a significant one, the rate of false positives will be higher than .05. Given the presence of a large enough number of questionable research practices, the rate of false positives can go as high as 60% (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011).

Fundamentally, I agree with your intuition that null hypothesis significance testing can go wrong. However, I would argue that the true culprits producing a high rate of false positives are processes like publication bias and the presence of researcher degrees of freedom that increase the rate of false positives. It is also worth noting thatIndeed, many scientists are well aware of these problems, and thereimproving scientific reproducability is ana very active current topic of discussion about how to improve scientific reproducability (e.g., Nosek & Bar-Anan, 2012; Nosek, Spies, & Motyl, 2012). So you are in good company with your concerns, but I also think there are reasons for some cautious optimism.

 

The general issue that the probability of publication depending on the observed $p$-value is what is meant by publication bias. If we take a step back and think about the implications of a publication bias on a broader research literature, a research literature affected by publication bias will still contain true results -- sometimes the null hypothesis that a scientist claims to be false really will be false, and, depending on the degree of publication bias, sometimes a scientist will correctly claim that a given null hypothesis is true. However, the research literature will also be cluttered up by too large a proportion of false positives (i.e., studies in which the researcher claims that the null hypothesis is false when really it's true).

Publication bias is not the only way that the probability of publishing a false positive can be greater than $\alpha$. When used improperly, certain areas of flexibility in the design of studies and analysis of data, which are sometimes labeled researcher degrees of freedom (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011), can increase the probability that a result is significant under the null hypothesis. For example, if we assume that, upon obtaining a non-significant result, all (or some) scientists will exclude one outlying data point if this exclusion will change the non-significant result into a significant one, the rate of false positives will be higher than .05. Given the presence of a large enough number of questionable research practices, the rate of false positives can go as high as 60% (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011).

Fundamentally, I agree with your intuition that null hypothesis significance testing can go wrong. However, I would argue that the true culprits are processes like publication bias and the presence of researcher degrees of freedom that increase the rate of false positives. It is also worth noting that many scientists are well aware of these problems, and there is an active discussion about how to improve scientific reproducability (e.g., Nosek & Bar-Anan, 2012; Nosek, Spies, & Motyl, 2012).

The general issue of the probability of publication depending on the observed $p$-value is what is meant by publication bias. If we take a step back and think about the implications of publication bias for a broader research literature, a research literature affected by publication bias will still contain true results -- sometimes the null hypothesis that a scientist claims to be false really will be false, and, depending on the degree of publication bias, sometimes a scientist will correctly claim that a given null hypothesis is true. However, the research literature will also be cluttered up by too large a proportion of false positives (i.e., studies in which the researcher claims that the null hypothesis is false when really it's true).

Publication bias is not the only way that, under the null hypothesis, the probability of publishing a significant result be greater than $\alpha$. When used improperly, certain areas of flexibility in the design of studies and analysis of data, which are sometimes labeled researcher degrees of freedom (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011), can increase the rate of false positives, even when there is no publication bias. For example, if we assume that, upon obtaining a non-significant result, all (or some) scientists will exclude one outlying data point if this exclusion will change the non-significant result into a significant one, the rate of false positives will be higher than .05. Given the presence of a large enough number of questionable research practices, the rate of false positives can go as high as 60% (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011).

Fundamentally, I agree with your intuition that null hypothesis significance testing can go wrong. However, I would argue that the true culprits producing a high rate of false positives are processes like publication bias and the presence of researcher degrees of freedom. Indeed, many scientists are well aware of these problems, and improving scientific reproducability is a very active current topic of discussion (e.g., Nosek & Bar-Anan, 2012; Nosek, Spies, & Motyl, 2012). So you are in good company with your concerns, but I also think there are reasons for some cautious optimism.

 
Found the published version of Gelman & Loken
Source Link

It's important to note that the improper use of researcher degrees of freedom (which is sometimes known as a questionable research practice; Martinson, Anderson, & de Vries, 2005) is not the same as making up data. In some cases, excluding outliers is the right thing to do, either because equipment fails or for some other reason. The key issue is that, in the presence of researcher degrees of freedom, the method of analysis is often dependent on the data that are obtained (Gelman & Loken, unpublishedGelman & Loken, 2014), even if the researchers in question are not aware of this fact. As long as researchers use researcher degrees of freedom (consciously or unconsciously) to increase the probability of a significant result (perhaps because significant results are more "publishable"), the presence of researcher degrees of freedom will overpopulate a research literature with false positives in the same way as publication bias.

Gelman, A., & Loken, E. (Unpublished manuscript2014). The garden of forking paths: Why multiple comparisons can be a problemstatistical crisis in science. American Scientist, even when there is no “fishing expedition” or “p102, 460-hacking” and the research hypothesis was posited ahead of time465. Retrieved 7/21/2015 from http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/research/unpublished/p_hacking.pdf

It's important to note that the improper use of researcher degrees of freedom (which is sometimes known as a questionable research practice; Martinson, Anderson, & de Vries, 2005) is not the same as making up data. In some cases, excluding outliers is the right thing to do, either because equipment fails or for some other reason. The key issue is that, in the presence of researcher degrees of freedom, the method of analysis is often dependent on the data that are obtained (Gelman & Loken, unpublished), even if the researchers in question are not aware of this fact. As long as researchers use researcher degrees of freedom (consciously or unconsciously) to increase the probability of a significant result (perhaps because significant results are more "publishable"), the presence of researcher degrees of freedom will overpopulate a research literature with false positives in the same way as publication bias.

Gelman, A., & Loken, E. (Unpublished manuscript). The garden of forking paths: Why multiple comparisons can be a problem, even when there is no “fishing expedition” or “p-hacking” and the research hypothesis was posited ahead of time. Retrieved 7/21/2015 from http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/research/unpublished/p_hacking.pdf

It's important to note that the improper use of researcher degrees of freedom (which is sometimes known as a questionable research practice; Martinson, Anderson, & de Vries, 2005) is not the same as making up data. In some cases, excluding outliers is the right thing to do, either because equipment fails or for some other reason. The key issue is that, in the presence of researcher degrees of freedom, the method of analysis is often dependent on the data that are obtained (Gelman & Loken, 2014), even if the researchers in question are not aware of this fact. As long as researchers use researcher degrees of freedom (consciously or unconsciously) to increase the probability of a significant result (perhaps because significant results are more "publishable"), the presence of researcher degrees of freedom will overpopulate a research literature with false positives in the same way as publication bias.

Gelman, A., & Loken, E. (2014). The statistical crisis in science. American Scientist, 102, 460-465.

Added a reference, fixed a typo
Source Link
Loading
Source Link
Loading