Beyond inference by eye: Statistical and graphing practices in JEAB, 1992-2017

Title
Beyond inference by eye: Statistical and graphing practices in JEAB, 1992-2017
Publication Date
2019-03
Author(s)
Kyonka, Elizabeth
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7974-6080
Email: ekyonka@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:ekyonka
Mitchel, Suzanne H
Bizo, Lewis
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc
Place of publication
United States of America
DOI
10.1002/jeab.509
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/51949
Abstract

Debates about the utility of p values and correct ways to analyze data have inspired new guidelines on statistical inference by the American Psychological Association (APA) and changes in the way results are reported in other scientific journals, but their impact on the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) has not previously been evaluated. A content analysis of empirical articles published in JEAB between 1992 and 2017 investigated whether statistical and graphing practices changed during that time period. The likelihood that a JEAB article reported a null hypothesis significance test, included a confidence interval, or depicted at least one figure with error bars has increased over time. Features of graphs in JEAB, including the proportion depicting single-subject data, have not changed systematically during the same period. Statistics and graphing trends in JEAB largely paralleled those in mainstream psychology journals, but there was no evidence that changes to APA style had any direct impact on JEAB. In the future, the onus will continue to be on authors, reviewers and editors to ensure that statistical and graphing practices in JEAB continue to evolve without interfering with characteristics that set the journal apart from other scientific journals.

Link
Citation
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 111(2), p. 155-165
ISSN
1938-3711
0022-5002
Pubmed ID
30747443
Start page
155
End page
165

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