Inductive inference or inductive behavior: Fisher and Neyman-Pearson approaches to statistical testing in psychological research (1940-1960).

Full Abstract

The application of statistical testing in psychological research over the period of 1940-1960 is examined in order to address psychologists' reconciliation of the extant controversy between the Fisher and Neyman-Pearson approaches. Textbooks of psychological statistics and the psychological journal literature are reviewed to examine the presence of what Gigerenzer (1993) called a hybrid model of statistical testing. Such a model is present in the textbooks, although the mathematically incomplete character of this model precludes the appearance of a similarly hybridized approach to statistical testing in the research literature. The implications of this hybrid model for psychological research and the statistical testing controversy are discussed.

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Author information

Author/s: Halpin, Peter F (PF); Stam, Henderikus J (HJ);

Affiliation: University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Historical Article; Journal Article; Review

Journal: The American journal of psychology (Am J Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-; vol 119 (issue 4) : pp 625-53

Dates: Created 2007/02/08; Completed 2007/03/06; Revised 2007/11/15;

PMID: 17286092, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Psychological Tests
Psychology - history
Statistics as Topic - history

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