Consistency errors in p-values reported in Spanish psychology journals

• Autores: José Manuel Caperos Montalbán, Antonio Pardo Merino
• Localización: Psicothema, ISSN-e 1886-144X, ISSN 0214-9915, Vol. 25, Nº. 3, 2013, págs. 408-414
• Idioma: inglés
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Errores de consistencia en los valores p informados en las revistas españolas de Psicología
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo (pdf)
• Dialnet Métricas: 5 Citas
• Resumen
  • español

    Antecedentes: recientes trabajos han llamado la atención sobre la presencia de frecuentes errores de consistencia al informar de los resultados estadísticos. Método: hemos revisado los resultados estadísticos de 186 artículos publicados en cuatro revistas españolas de Psicología, 102 de los cuales contenían alguno de los estadísticos seleccionados para nuestro estudio: F de Fisher, t de Student y c2 de Pearson. Resultados: de los 1.212 contrastes completos revisados el 12,2% presenta algún tipo de error de consistencia: el valor p informado no se corresponde con el valor del estadístico de contraste y sus grados de libertad. En el 2,3% de los casos el error detectado conllevaría un cambio en la conclusión estadística del contraste. En términos del número de artículos, el 48% de los revisados incluye algún error de consistencia y al menos el 17,6% tendría que cambiar alguna de sus conclusiones. En términos meta-analíticos, los errores de consistencia pueden considerarse importantes en el 9,5% de los casos. Conclusiones: estos resultados señalan la necesidad de mejorar la calidad y precisión con la que se informa de los resultados estadísticos en las revistas españolas de Psicología.

  • English

    Background: Recent reviews have drawn attention to frequent consistency errors when reporting statistical results. Method: We have reviewed the statistical results reported in 186 articles published in four Spanish psychology journals. Of these articles, 102 contained at least one of the statistics selected for our study: Fisher-F, Student-t and Pearson-c2. Results: Out of the 1,212 complete statistics reviewed, 12.2% presented a consistency error, meaning that the reported p-value did not correspond to the reported value of the statistic and its degrees of freedom. In 2.3% of the cases, the correct calculation would have led to a different conclusion than the reported one. In terms of articles, 48% included at least one consistency error, and 17.6% would have to change at least one conclusion. In meta-analytical terms, with a focus on effect size, consistency errors can be considered substantial in 9.5% of the cases. Conclusion: These results imply a need to improve the quality and precision with which statistical results are reported in Spanish psychology journals.

• Referencias bibliográficas
  • Abelson, R.P. (1995). Statistics as principled argument. Hillsdale, NJ: LEA.
  • American Psychological Association (2001). Publication manual of the American Psycholo gical Association (5a ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
  • American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the American Psycholo gical Association (6a ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
  • Bakker, M., & Wicherts, J.M. (2011). The (mis)reporting of statistical results in psychology journals. Behavioral Research Methods, 43,...
  • Berle, D., & Starcevic, V. (2007). Inconsistencies between reported test statistics and p-values in two psychiatry journals. International...
  • Botella, J., & Gambara, H. (2002). Qué es el meta-análisis. Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva.
  • Card, N.A. (2011). Applied meta-analysis for social science research. New York: Guilford Press.
  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2a ed). New York: Academic Press.
  • Cohen, J. (1994). The earth is round (p<.05). American Psychologist, 49, 997-1003.
  • Cumming, G., Fidler, F., Leonard, M., Kalinowski, P., Christiansen, A., Kleinig, A., Lo, J., McMenamin, N., & Wilson, S. (2007). Statistical...
  • Curran-Everett, D. (2000). Multiple comparisons: Philosophies and illustrations. American Jour nal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and...
  • Fisher, R.A. (1925). Statistical methods for research workers. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.
  • Fisher, R.A. (1935). The design of experiments. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.
  • García-Berthou, E., & Alcaraz, C. (2004). Incongruence between test statistics and p-values in medical papers. BMC Medical Research Methodology,...
  • Jeličić, H., Phelps, E., & Lerner, R.M. (2009). Use of missing data methods in longitudinal studies: The persistence of bad practices...
  • McMillan, J.H., & Foley, J. (2011). Reporting and discussing effect size: Still the road less traveled? Practical Assessment, Research...
  • Murphy, K.R. (1997). Editorial. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 3-5.
  • Neyman, J., & Pearson, E.S. (1928). On the use and interpretation of certain test criteria for purposes of statistical inference. Biometrika,...
  • Nickerson, R.S. (2000). Null hypothesis significance testing: A review of an old and continuing controversy. Psychological Methods, 5, 241-301.
  • Pardo, A., Garrido, J., Ruiz, M.A., & San Martín R. (2007). La interacción entre factores en el análisis de varianza: errores de interpretación...
  • Rosnow, R.L., & Rosenthal, R. (1989). Statistical procedures and the justification of knowledge in psychological science. American Psychologist,...
  • Sánchez-Meca, J., & Botella, J. (2010). Revisiones sistemáticas y metaanálisis. Herramientas para la práctica profesional. Papeles del...
  • Sun, S., Pan, W., & Wang, L.L. (2010). A comprehensive review of effect size reporting and interpreting practices in academic journals...
  • Thompson, B. (1994). Guidelines for authors. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 54, 837-847.
  • Thompson, B. (1997). Editorial policies regarding statistical significance tests: Further comments. Educational Researcher, 26, 29-32.
  • Wagenmakers, E.J. (2007). A practical solution to the pervasive problems of p-values. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 14, 779-804.
  • Wilkinson, L., & Task Force on Statistical Inference (1999). Statistical methods in psychology journals: Guidelines and explanations....
  • Zientek, L.R., Capraro, M.M., & Capraro, R.M. (2008). Reporting practices in quantitative teacher education research: One look at the...