Comment on "The statistics wars and intellectual conflicts of interest" by D. Mayo

TL;DR

This paper discusses the misuse of P-values in scientific research, emphasizing their utility despite widespread abuse, and highlights issues like Type III errors where tests are disconnected from scientific hypotheses.

Contribution

It provides a nuanced perspective on P-value misuse, arguing against banning them and identifying common problems such as Type III errors in hypothesis testing.

Findings

Many reported P-values are not genuine P-values.

Type III errors are a significant problem in hypothesis testing.

Banning P-values is compared to banning scalpels due to misuse.

Abstract

While P-values are widely abused, they are a useful tool for many purposes; banning them is analogous to banning scalpels because most people do not know how to perform surgery. Many reported P-values are not genuine P-values, for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the most widespread and pernicious problem is the Type III error of testing a statistical hypothesis that has little or no connection to the scientific hypothesis.