Consistency errors in p-values reported in Spanish psychology journals

Recent reviews have drawn attention to frequent consistency errors when reporting statistical results. Method: We have reviewed the statistical results reported in 186 articles published in four Spanish psychology journals. Of these articles, 102 contained at least one of the statistics selected for...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Caperos, José Manuel, Pardo Merino, Antonio
Format: article
Publication Date:2013
Country:España
Institution:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repository:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/665567
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10486/665567
https://dx.doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2012.207
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Statistical errors
Null hypothesis signifi cance testing
P-value
Errores estadísticos
Contraste de hipótesis
Valor p
Estadística y Demografía / Estadística
Psicología
Description
Summary:Recent reviews have drawn attention to frequent consistency errors when reporting statistical results. Method: We have reviewed the statistical results reported in 186 articles published in four Spanish psychology journals. Of these articles, 102 contained at least one of the statistics selected for our study: Fisher-F, Student-t and Pearson-χ2. Results: Out of the 1,212 complete statistics reviewed, 12.2% presented a consistency error, meaning that the reported p-value did not correspond to the reported value of the statistic and its degrees of freedom. In 2.3% of the cases, the correct calculation would have led to a different conclusion than the reported one. In terms of articles, 48% included at least one consistency error, and 17.6% would have to change at least one conclusion. In metaanalytical terms, with a focus on effect size, consistency errors can be considered substantial in 9.5% of the cases. Conclusion: These results imply a need to improve the quality and precision with which statistical results are reported in Spanish psychology journals