Statistical Significance Testing: The Bootstrapping Method and an Application to Self-Control Theory

The present study discusses two problems with statistical significance testing (i.e., tautology and violation of statistical assumptions) that require supplemental analysis. The bootstrap method is presented as a form of internal replication to learn about the consistency of and augment the findings from statistical significance tests in many criminal justice and criminology research findings. The bootstrap method is demonstrated by applying the method to an empirical test of self-control theory. The empirical test shows support for self-control theory and that the bootstrap method provides evidence that these findings will replicate across several different samples.