What are the potential pitfalls of focusing solely on p-values?
Relying exclusively on p-values, including a threshold of 0.001, can be problematic for several reasons:
1. Overemphasis on statistical significance: Researchers may overlook the practical importance of the effect size and the broader context of the findings. 2. P-hacking: This refers to manipulating data or conducting multiple analyses until a significant p-value is achieved, leading to potentially misleading results. 3. False positives: A small p-value does not eliminate the possibility of a false positive, where an effect is observed even though there is none.
