Reflections on Statistical Non-Significance

Statistical Hypothesis testing does an OK job at avoiding proving the presence of effects, but it does a mediocre job (or worse) at disproving them. There are a lot of reasons for this, poor training among them, but it is largely systemic. I spent my Thanksgiving morning watching the “Vanishing of the Bees,” and my mind kept drifting to thoughts of Type II error. I know. I can grasp the obvious … maybe I need a break.(more…)