The Earth is spherical (p < 0.05): alternative methods of statistical inference

A literature review was conducted to understand the limitations of well-known statistical analysis techniques, particularly analysis of variance.The review is structured around six major points: (1) averaging across participants can be misleading; (2) strong predictions are preferable to weak predictions; (3) constructs and measures should be distinguished conceptually and empirically; (4) statistical signi® cance and practical signi® cance should be distinguished conceptually and empirically; (5) the null hypothesis is virtually never true; and (6) one experiment is always inconclusive.Based on these insights, a number of lesser-known and less-frequently used statistical analysis techniques were identi® ed to address the limitations of more traditional techniques.In addition, a number of methodological conclusions about the conduct of human factors research are presented.