Building a backdrop of meaning in magnitude as part of research workflow

Statistical practice is often detached from research context, making it difficult to convey the practical implications of results for future research or practice. Common workflows encourage precision-based summaries such as p-values, leaving little room for contextual meaning tied to magnitude of estimates. Statistical significance and practical importance continue to be conflated because we lack an explicit place within the research workflow to fully integrate the research context with the statistical approach. I propose a Backdrop of Meaning in Magnitude (BoMM) process to be explicitly integrated into research workflow starting in the study design phase to explicitly convey and document the connection between statistical results and larger contextual implications of the research. The BoMM process consists of creating a visual backdrop and then using the backdrop to consider and document interpretations for different possible outcomes. The backdrop, as in theatre, provides the setting in front of which the action of the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation and decision-making are carried out. Engaging in the BoMM process provides an opportunity to identify and address challenges with measurement, design and interpretation early in the research process before substantial resources are allocated. This article is part of the theme issue 'Statistical workflow'.