Modern clinical trials provide the evidence for most therapeutic advances, and that evidence, expressed in a statistical format, is used to draw inferences about a population from the study's results. Clinician judgment translates these inferences for best individual patient care, but many clinicians struggle with the statistical interpretation of trial results. This review provides a clinical ...

In science publishing and many areas of research, the status quo is a lexicographic decision rule in which any result is first required to have a p-value that surpasses the 0.05 threshold and only then is consideration—often scant—given to such factors as prior and related evidence, plausibility of mechanism, study design and data quality, real world costs and benefits, novelty of finding, and ...

Statistical methods for the analysis of data can be classed as descriptive or as probabilistic. The former methods include tabulation and graphical display, of great importance both in detailed analysis and also in presentation of conclusions. Probability enters statistical analysis in various ways. The most obvious is that one recognizes explicitly that conclusions drawn from limited data are ...

Sohn (1998) presents a good argument that neither statistical significance nor effect size is indicative of the replicability of research results. His objection to the Bayesian argument is also succinct. However, his solution of the `replicability belief' issue is problematic, and his verdict that significance tests have no role to play in empirical research is debatable. The strengths and weak...