Deconstructing Arguments From The Case Against Hypothesis Testing

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to contest the propositions that (1) hypothesis tests should be abandoned in favor of confidence intervals, and (2) science has not benefited from hypothesis testing. The minor purpose is to propose (1) descriptive statistics, graphics, and effect sizes do not obviate the need for hypothesis testing, (2) significance testing (reporting p values and leaving it to the reader to determine significance) is subjective and outside the realm of the scientific method, and (3) Bayesian and qualitative methods should be used for Bayesian and qualitative research studies, respectively.