Evaluate the investigator's decision-making process. What specific criticism of null hypothesis testing does this case illustrate, and how should the investigator have handled these two findings to ensure a scientifically sound reporting of their research?
Case context: A research team conducts two separate, high-powered experiments examining the effect of a cognitive training app on working memory. Experiment 1 yields , and Experiment 2 yields . The lead investigator decides to write up and submit Experiment 1 to a top-tier journal, describing it as a successful demonstration of the app's efficacy. However, the investigator decides to archive Experiment 2 in a file drawer, concluding that it failed to find an effect.
Question: Evaluate the investigator's decision-making process. What specific criticism of null hypothesis testing does this case illustrate, and how should the investigator have handled these two findings to ensure a scientifically sound reporting of their research?
Sample answer: The investigator's decision illustrates the criticism that the conventional significance threshold is a mathematically arbitrary dividing line. By treating Experiment 1 () as a success and Experiment 2 () as a failure, the investigator is treating nearly identical findings as fundamentally different. To ensure a scientifically sound reporting, the investigator should not have archived Experiment 2. Instead, they should have reported both studies together, acknowledging that both experiments produced essentially the same result and offering similar support for the app's efficacy, rather than selectively publishing only the study that crossed the arbitrary significance threshold.
Key points:
- Identify the reliance on the mathematically arbitrary dividing line.
- Recognize that Experiment 1 () and Experiment 2 () represent nearly identical findings.
- Diagnose the decision to publish one and archive the other as treating similar results as fundamentally different.
- Propose reporting both findings together to avoid publication bias and arbitrary distinctions.
Rubric: To receive full credit, the response must: 1) Identify that the investigator is relying on a rigid, arbitrary dividing line of . 2) Explain that the results ( and ) are nearly identical. 3) Diagnose the decision to archive Experiment 2 as an example of treating similar findings as fundamentally different. 4) Recommend reporting both experiments together to provide a complete and unbiased account of the findings.
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The File Drawer Problem in Null Hypothesis Testing
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