Statistical Significance Testing

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the usefulness of statistical significance testing in psychology through a critical examination of a study entitled "The Effect of Movie Portrayals on Audience Attitudes About Non-traditional Families and Sexual Orientation", conducted by Mazur and Emmers-Sommer. The paper explains that the critical analysis of the article demonstrates a number of the criticisms regarding the use of statistics in the field of psychology and that it makes clear that a great deal of improvement is necessary in the field's use of statistics. The paper concludes that if psychology is ever to become a recognized natural science, researchers within the field must become more cognizant of the proper and practical application of statistical methods.

From the Paper:

"The study "employed an experimental pre-test / post-test control group design" which randomly assigned participants to one of two groups (Mazur & Emmers-Sommer, 2002, 164). Individuals placed in the treatment group watched Object of My Affection, which featured a non-traditional family and a gay male couple within the storyline. The control group watched Father of the Bride II, which displayed no forms of non-traditional families and no inter-racial, gay or lesbian relationships. Immediately prior, to and following the viewing of the movies, each group completed Lye and Biblarz's Attitudes Toward Gender Roles and Family Life Scale, Herek's Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men (ATLG) scale and a demographics questionnaire. Lye and Biblarz's scale consisted of eleven items rated on a 7 point Likert-type scale while the ATLG was abridged from its original version on both gay men and lesbians to include only the 10 items on gay men, and was rated on a 9 point Likert-type scale. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Gendreau, P. (2001). We Must Do a Better Job of Cumulating Knowledge. Canadian Psychology, 43(3), 205-210.
• Goodwin, C.J. (1999). A History of Modern Psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• Hubbard, R. & Ryan P.A. (2002). The historical growth of statistical significance testing in psychology - and its future prospects. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 60,661-681.
• Mazur, M.A., & Emmers-Sommer, T.M. (2002). The Effect of Movie Portrayals on Audience Attitudes about Non-traditional Families and Sexual Orientation. Journal of Homosexuality, 44(1), 157- 179.
• Wright, D.B. (2003). Making friends with your data: Improving how statistics are conducted and reported. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 73,123-136.

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