Why Are p-Values So Sticky? What Business Stats and Econometrics Students Hold Onto
Students frequently focus on p-values and statistical significance, but they often overlook the importance of the estimated coefficient's size. In doing so, they can miss a big story.
I'm sorry for my absence. This is the first week I've really felt like myself since getting COVID over fall break!
The next few posts will continue to reflect on what sticks with students from their first business statistics and econometrics classes.
My upper-level class is about wrapping up, and I wanted to share an observation about what seems to really stick with seniors from their first business and econometrics class. You guessed it—statistical significance. All (and I do mean all) first and subsequent student drafts of emails describing their regression results appealed to statistical significance as the primary evidence of the scientific importance of their work.
So…..these two items will be on my winter reading list.
Ziliak, S. T., & McCloskey, D. N. (2008). The cult of statistical significance: How the standard error costs us jobs, justice, and lives. University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.186351