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The reporting of statistical significance in scientific journals

Author

Listed:
  • Jan M. Hoem

    (Stockholms Universitet)

Abstract

Scientific journals in most empirical disciplines have regulations about how authors should report the precision of their estimates of model parameters and other model elements. Some journals that overlap fully or partly with the field of demography demand as a strict prerequisite for publication that a p-value, a confidence interval, or a standard deviation accompany any parameter estimate. I feel that this rule is sometimes applied in an overly mechanical manner. Standard deviations and p-values produced routinely by general-purpose software are taken at face value and included without questioning, and features that have too high a p-value or too large a standard deviation are too easily disregarded as being without interest because they appear not to be statistically significant. In my opinion authors should be discouraged from adhering to this practice, and flexibility rather than rigidity should be encouraged in the reporting of statistical significance. I would also encourage thoughtful rather than mechanical use of p-values, standard deviations, confidence intervals, and the like.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan M. Hoem, 2008. "The reporting of statistical significance in scientific journals," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 18(15), pages 437-442.
  • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:18:y:2008:i:15
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2008.18.15
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jakub Bijak, 2019. "Editorial: P-values, theory, replicability, and rigour," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(32), pages 949-952.
    2. Kravdal, Øystein, 2009. "Mortality effects of average education in current and earlier municipality of residence among internal migrants, net of their own education," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 1484-1492, November.
    3. Griffith Feeney & Nico Keilman & Carl Schmertmann & Jakub Bijak, 2019. "Editorial: The past, present, and future of Demographic Research," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(41), pages 1197-1204.
    4. Marko Hofmann & Silja Meyer-Nieberg, 2018. "Time to dispense with the p-value in OR?," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 26(1), pages 193-214, March.
    5. Eleonora Mussino & Vitor Miranda & Li Ma, 2019. "Transition to third birth among immigrant mothers in Sweden: Does having two daughters accelerate the process?," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 81-109, June.
    6. Jan M. Hoem & Giuseppe Gabrielli & Aiva Jasilioniene & Dora Kostova & Anna Matysiak, 2010. "Levels of recent union formation," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 22(9), pages 199-210.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    statistical significance;

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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