Dump ‘Statistical Significance,’ Then Teach Scientists Statistics
Researchers need a new gold standard to assess their work. They also ought to stop indulging the fear of math.
What’s that you say?
Photographer: Lucas Knappe/EyeEm
Did you know that gorging on dark chocolate accelerates weight loss? A study published in 2015 found that a group of subjects who followed a low-carbohydrate diet and ate a bar of dark chocolate daily lost more weight than a group that followed the same diet sans chocolate. This discovery was heralded in some quarters as a scientific breakthrough.
If you’re still hesitant about raiding the supermarket chocolate aisle, rest assured: The study’s results are statistically significant. In theory, this means that the results would be improbable if chocolate did not contribute to weight loss, and therefore we can conclude that it does. A successful test of statistical significance has long been the admission ticket into the halls of scientific knowledge.