Still against Inferential Statistics: Rejoinder to Nicholson and Ridgway


Authors: 
Stephen Gorard and Patrick White
Year: 
2017
URL: 
http://iase-web.org/documents/SERJ/SERJ16(1)_Gorard.pdf
Abstract: 

In their response to our paper, Nicholson and Ridgway agree with the majority of
what we wrote. They echo our concerns about the misuse of inferential statistics and
NHST in particular. Very little of their response explicitly challenges the points we
made but where it does their defence of the use of inferential techniques does not
stand up to scrutiny. Their statements are either contradictory, agreement ‘dressed
up’ as disagreement, appeals to authority, semantic slights of hand, or irrelevant to
our original claims. It is not clear why such a response was needed.

The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education