Are the significant effects really significant?

Are Nonsignificant Differences Really Not Significant?

Many researchers and reviewers hesitate to publish data when treatments are not “significantly” different. Most of us were taught to use a particular probability value (usually 5% or 1%) as a critical value to test hypotheses. The term “significant” has come to be synonymous with the phrase “significant at the 5% level.” Using relatively conservative critical values prevents readers from evalua...

Is the p value really so significant?

Statistical significance: is it really that significant?

Which protein bands are significant?

CASE DESCRIPTION The serum protein electrophoresis pattern (SPEP) for an 82-year-old female patient with known monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance demonstrated 2 aberrant protein bands, one in the 21 interzone (Fig. 1A, fat arrow) and one in the 12 interzone (Fig. 1A, thin arrow). The immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE) (Fig. 1B) revealed a large IgA paraprotein in the 12 interz...

Adverse effects of acupuncture. Which are clinically significant?

OBJECTIVE To review potentially serious adverse events associated with acupuncture. QUALITY OF EVIDENCE Studies in the medical literature primarily provide level II evidence from retrospective reviews, case reports, and prospective surveys of practitioners. MAIN MESSAGE Both the general public and physicians are becoming more interested in the ancient Chinese medical practice of acupuncture...