One-TailedF-tests in communication research

Recently, communication scholars have published research using a type of significance testing that might be called a “one-tailed F-test.” The use of such tests lead authors to report as statistically significant F-values that would not be considered as statistically significant according to the critical values presented in standard F-tables. This paper documents the recent use of one-tailed F-tests in communication journals, and examines the arguments both for and against the use of one-tailed Fs. The use of these tests is examined within the broader unresolved controversy surrounding the use of one-tailed tests in general. Based on the relative merits of various views, suggestions are made for future practices. It is recommended that future researchers should most often avoid one-tailed Fs, and generally exercise greater caution with one-tailed tests in general. Annual meeting of the International Communication Association San Francisco, CA