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The Search for Significance: A Few Peculiarities in the Distribution of P Values in Experimental Psychology Literature

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  • Michał Krawczyk

Abstract

In this project I investigate the use and possible misuse of p values in papers published in five (high-ranked) journals in experimental psychology. I use a data set of over 135’000 p values from more than five thousand papers. I inspect (1) the way in which the p values are reported and (2) their distribution. The main findings are following: first, it appears that some authors choose the mode of reporting their results in an arbitrary way. Moreover, they often end up doing it in such a way that makes their findings seem more statistically significant than they really are (which is well known to improve the chances for publication). Specifically, they frequently report p values “just above” significance thresholds directly, whereas other values are reported by means of inequalities (e.g. “p

Suggested Citation

  • Michał Krawczyk, 2015. "The Search for Significance: A Few Peculiarities in the Distribution of P Values in Experimental Psychology Literature," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-19, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0127872
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127872
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Grimes, David Robert, 2022. "The Ellipse of Insignificance: a refined fragility index for ascertaining robustness of results in dichotomous outcome trials," OSF Preprints 32p8t, Center for Open Science.
    4. Marvin Deversi & Alessandro Ispano & Peter Schwardmann, 2018. "Spin Doctors: A Model and an Experimental Investigation of Vague Disclosure," CESifo Working Paper Series 7244, CESifo.
    5. Robbie C M van Aert & Jelte M Wicherts & Marcel A L M van Assen, 2019. "Publication bias examined in meta-analyses from psychology and medicine: A meta-meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-32, April.

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