Tryon Warren W, Lewis Charles
Department of Psychology, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458-9998, USA.
Psychol Methods. 2008 Sep;13(3):272-7. doi: 10.1037/a0013158.
Evidence of group matching frequently takes the form of a nonsignificant test of statistical difference. Theoretical hypotheses of no difference are also tested in this way. These practices are flawed in that null hypothesis statistical testing provides evidence against the null hypothesis and failing to reject H-sub-0 is not evidence supportive of it. Tests of statistical equivalence are needed. This article corrects the inferential confidence interval (ICI) reduction factor introduced by W. W. Tryon (2001) and uses it to extend his discussion of statistical equivalence. This method is shown to be algebraically equivalent with D. J. Schuirmann's (1987) use of 2 one-sided t tests, a highly regarded and accepted method of testing for statistical equivalence. The ICI method provides an intuitive graphic method for inferring statistical difference as well as equivalence. Trivial difference occurs when a test of difference and a test of equivalence are both passed. Statistical indeterminacy results when both tests are failed. Hybrid confidence intervals are introduced that impose ICI limits on standard confidence intervals. These intervals are recommended as replacements for error bars because they facilitate inferences.
组匹配的证据通常表现为统计差异的非显著性检验形式。无差异的理论假设也通过这种方式进行检验。这些做法存在缺陷，因为零假设统计检验提供了反对零假设的证据，而未能拒绝H₀并不是支持它的证据。需要进行统计等效性检验。本文修正了W. W. 特里昂（2001年）引入的推断置信区间（ICI）缩减因子，并用它来扩展他对统计等效性的讨论。该方法在代数上被证明与D. J. 舒尔曼（1987年）使用的2个单侧t检验等效，2个单侧t检验是一种备受推崇且被接受的统计等效性检验方法。ICI方法提供了一种直观的图形方法来推断统计差异以及等效性。当差异检验和等效性检验都通过时，会出现微小差异。当两个检验都未通过时，会导致统计不确定性。引入了混合置信区间，它对标准置信区间施加了ICI限制。建议使用这些区间来替代误差线，因为它们便于进行推断。
