Beyond p < .05: Toward a Nightingalean Perspective on Statistical Significance for Nursing Education Researchers

During the past decade, substantial concern has developed among scholars from a variety of disciplines about the common use and interpretation of p-values, used to indicate the statistical significance of inferential statistical analyses reported in quantitative studies. These debates have highlighted a widespread misunderstanding of p-values and the more limited role they should take in informing study conclusions and policy decisions. In this month's "Methodology Corner," I provide an overview of this debate, describe the limitations of statistical significance testing, and suggest that the nursing education research enterprise would benefit from following a more Nightingalean approach to statistical analysis, where the practical importance-the meaningfulness-of study findings is emphasized. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(8):453-455.].