The appropriate use of null hypothesis testing

Abstract

The many criticisms of null hypothesis testing suggest when it is not useful and what is should not be used for. This article explores when and why its use is appropriate. Null hypothesis testing is insufficient when size of effect is important, but it is ideal for testing ordinal claims relating the order of conditions, which are common in psychology. Null hypothesis testing also is insufficient for determining beliefs, but it is ideal for demonstrating sufficient evidential strength to support an ordinal claim, with sufficient evidence being 1 criterion for a finding entering the corpus of legitimate findings in psychology. The line between sufficient and insufficient evidence is currently set at p < .05; there is little reason for allowing experimenters to select their own value of alpha. Thus null hypothesis testing is an optimal method for demonstrating sufficient evidence for an ordinal claim. Copyright 1996 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.