The Spread of Statistical Significance Testing in Psychology

Abstract

Because the widespread use of statistical significance testing has deleterious consequences for the development of a cumulative knowledge base, the American Psychological Association's Board of Scientific Affairs is in the process of appointing a Task Force whose charge includes the possibility of phasing out such testing in textbooks and journal articles. Just how popular is significance testing in psychology? This issue is examined in the present historical study, which uses data from randomly selected issues of the Journal of Applied Psychology for the period 1917-94. Results indicate that the practice of significance testing, at one time of restricted usage, has expanded to the point that it is virtually synonymous with empirical analysis. The data also lend support to Gigerenzer and Murray's (1987) allegation that an inference revolution occurred in psychology during the period 1940-55. Unfortunately, it is concluded that the ubiquity of significance testing constitutes a classic example of the overadoption of a methodology.