A frequent misuse of significance tests

Thomas Mayer

Economists sometimes interpret the failure of a significance test to disconfirm a hypothesis as evidence that this hypothesis is valid. Six examples of this are cited from recent journals. But this is a misinterpretation of what significance tests show. While in general it is correct that every failure to disconfirm a hypothesis adds to its credibility, the term disconfirm is defined differently for this purpose than it is in the context of significance tests.

Year of publication:	2001
Authors:	Mayer, Thomas
Publisher:	München : CESifo
Subject:	Significance tests \| t values \| t coefficients \| confirmation \| Statistischer Test \| Statistical test \| Schätztheorie \| Estimation theory \| Statistische Methodenlehre \| Statistical theory

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