PROBLEMS OF STATISTICAL INFERENCE

Abstract

The standard method of statistical inference invol Ves testing a null hypothesis that the researcher usually hopes to reject in order to accept a specific alternative hypothesis. The method is problematic in some ways; for example, consistency with a stringent underlying mathematical model and random sampling are needed, in principie, and decisions need to be based on not only objective outcomes of tests but also subjective evaluation of effect sizes. Some other problems have been wrongly attributed to it, for example, that it often invoives null hypotheses that are preposterous or obviously false, permits only a decision to accept or to reject the null hypothesis, ís misdirected because the real issue is not accept/reject but degree of beiief, is an unfortunate hybridization, involves faulty syllogistic reasoning, and is inferior to the Bayesian approach. These criticisms are answered in this article; the conclusion is that the standard method is sound and, unless misused, it is valuable.