Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Significance Testing: Overview01:04

Significance Testing: Overview

Significance testing is a set of statistical methods used to test whether a claim about a parameter is valid. In analytical chemistry, significance testing is used primarily to determine whether the difference between two values comes from determinate or random errors. The effect of a particular change in the measurement protocol, analyst, or sample itself can cause a deviation from the expected result. In the case of a suspected deviation/outlier, we need to be able to confirm mathematically...
Testing a Claim about Population Proportion01:24

Testing a Claim about Population Proportion

A complete procedure for testing a claim about a population proportion is provided here.
There are two methods of testing a claim about a population proportion: (1) Using the sample proportion from the data where a binomial distribution is approximated to the normal distribution and (2) Using the binomial probabilities calculated from the data.
The first method uses normal distribution as an approximation to the binomial distribution. The requirements are as follows: sample size is large...
Decision Making: P-value Method01:09

Decision Making: P-value Method

The process of hypothesis testing based on the P-value method includes calculating the P- value using the sample data and interpreting it.
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is proposed. The claim is based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to the claim  is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses:  a null hypothesis would be a neutral statement while the alternative hypothesis can have a...
Introduction to the Sign Test01:10

Introduction to the Sign Test

The sign test is an important tool in nonparametric statistics, offering a straightforward yet effective method for analyzing matched pairs, nominal data, or hypotheses concerning the median of a population. It transforms data points into positive or negative signs, avoiding the need for assumptions about data distribution and instead focusing on the direction of change. It is particularly valuable when data does not conform to the normal distribution requirements of many parametric tests. For...
Statistical Significance01:37

Statistical Significance

Once data is collected from both the experimental and the control groups, a statistical analysis is conducted to find out if there are meaningful differences between the two groups. A statistical analysis determines how likely any difference found is due to chance (and thus not meaningful). In psychology, group differences are considered meaningful, or significant, if the odds that these differences occurred by chance alone are 5 percent or less. Stated another way, if we repeated this...
Statistical Hypothesis Testing01:16

Statistical Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis testing is a critical statistical procedure facilitating informed, evidence-based decisions. It begins with a hypothesis, which is a tentative explanation, or a prediction about a population parameter. This hypothesis can be either a null hypothesis (H0), indicating no effect or difference, or an alternative hypothesis (Ha), suggesting an effect or difference.
Statistical significance measures the probability that an observed result occurred by chance. If this probability, known as...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Magnesium as a conformational gatekeeper of KRAS: Structural dynamics and therapeutic implications.

Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society·2026
Same author

Magnesium as a Conformational Gatekeeper of KRAS: Structural Dynamics and Therapeutic Implications.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Multicenter evaluation of the Waveband System for automated sleep assessment in patients with insomnia symptoms.

Sleep·2026
Same author

Machine Learning-Based Sleep Electroencephalographic Brain Age Index and Dementia Risk: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis.

JAMA network open·2026
Same author

Pediatric SleepNet: A Deep Learning Network for Reliable Pediatric Sleep Staging Across Developmental Stages.

Sleep·2026
Same author

Inferring preoperative cognitive function from intraoperative electroencephalography in elderly patients using machine learning.

IEEE transactions on bio-medical engineering·2026
Same journal

Factors influencing the trustworthiness of non-randomized studies of interventions: a survey of international experts.

BMC medicine·2026
Same journal

Structural-functional network decoupling in early stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis reveals cell-type specific transcriptional signatures.

BMC medicine·2026
Same journal

A lesion-derived brain network of somatic symptoms for transdiagnostic individual application.

BMC medicine·2026
Same journal

Evaluation and analysis of renal injury in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma receiving first-line benmelstobart plus anlotinib: results from the ETER100 study.

BMC medicine·2026
Same journal

Adverse and positive childhood experiences and suicidal ideation onset in a US pre-early adolescent cohort.

BMC medicine·2026
Same journal

Dual-drug-loaded nanohydrogel for intraoperative local application: sequential release-mediated spatiotemporal targeting of diverse secondary injury mechanisms to improve long-term prognosis in traumatic brain injury.

BMC medicine·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task
06:08

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task

Published on: July 22, 2025

Significance testing as perverse probabilistic reasoning.

M Brandon Westover1, Kenneth D Westover, Matt T Bianchi

  • 1Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. mwestover@partners.org

BMC Medicine
|March 2, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Most physicians misunderstand statistical significance testing, leading to misinterpretation of medical research. Improving understanding of probability theory is crucial for accurate medical information interpretation.

More Related Videos

A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments
08:12

A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments

Published on: March 1, 2022

A Prediction Error-driven Retrieval Procedure for Destabilizing and Rewriting Maladaptive Reward Memories in Hazardous Drinkers
08:05

A Prediction Error-driven Retrieval Procedure for Destabilizing and Rewriting Maladaptive Reward Memories in Hazardous Drinkers

Published on: January 5, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task
06:08

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task

Published on: July 22, 2025

A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments
08:12

A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments

Published on: March 1, 2022

A Prediction Error-driven Retrieval Procedure for Destabilizing and Rewriting Maladaptive Reward Memories in Hazardous Drinkers
08:05

A Prediction Error-driven Retrieval Procedure for Destabilizing and Rewriting Maladaptive Reward Memories in Hazardous Drinkers

Published on: January 5, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Medical Statistics
  • Cognitive Science
  • Medical Education

Background:

  • Medical literature truth claims heavily depend on statistical significance testing.
  • Physicians frequently misunderstand the probabilistic logic of significance tests, leading to misinterpretation.
  • This misunderstanding impacts the accurate interpretation of medical evidence.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess physicians' understanding of statistical significance testing.
  • To highlight the widespread misinterpretation of statistical results in medicine.
  • To provide a review of probability theory concepts for medical professionals.

Main Methods:

  • A quiz on statistical significance testing was administered to 246 physicians.
  • The study was conducted at two major academic hospitals.
  • Analysis focused on the proportion of incorrect responses.

Main Results:

  • Over 90% of physicians provided incorrect responses on the quiz.
  • This indicates a near-universal misunderstanding of significance tests.
  • Physicians demonstrate a significant gap in probabilistic reasoning.

Conclusions:

  • A strong grasp of probability theory is essential for rational medical information interpretation.
  • The findings underscore the need for improved statistical education in medical training.
  • Further research into physicians' cognitive abilities in probabilistic inference is warranted.