The insignificance of null hypothesis significance testing

The current method of hypothesis testing in the social sciences is under in tense criticism, yet most political scientists are unaware of the important issues being raised. Criticisms focus on the construction and interpretati on of a procedure that has dominated the reporting of empirical results for over fifty years. There is evidence that null hypothesis significance rest ing as practiced in political science is deeply flawed and widely misunders tood. This is important since most empirical work argues the value of findi ngs through the use of the null hypothesis significance test. In this artic le I review the history of the null hypothesis significance testing paradig m in the social sciences and discuss major problems, some of which are logi cal inconsistencies while others are more interpretive in nature. I suggest alternative techniques to convey effectively the importance of data-analyt ic findings. These recommendations are illustrated with examples using empi rical political science publications.