TY - JOUR
T1 - The error of accepting the "theoretical" null hypothesis
T2 - The rise, fall, and resurrection of commonsense hypotheses in psychology
AU - Kluger, Avraham N.
AU - Tikochinsky, Jonathan
PY - 2001/5
Y1 - 2001/5
N2 - When psychologists test a commonsense (CS) hypothesis and obtain no support, they tend to erroneously conclude that the CS belief is wrong. In many such cases it appears, after many years, that the CS hypothesis was valid after all. It is argued that this error of accepting the "theoretical" null hypothesis reflects confusion between the operationalized hypothesis and the theory or generalization that it is designed to test. That is, on the basis of reliable null data one can accept the operationalized null hypothesis (e.g., "A measure of attitude x is not correlated with a measure of behavior y"). In contrast, one cannot generalize from the findings and accept the abstract or theoretical null (e.g., "We know that attitudes do not predict behavior"). The practice of accepting the theoretical null hypothesis hampers research and reduces the trust of the public in psychological research.
AB - When psychologists test a commonsense (CS) hypothesis and obtain no support, they tend to erroneously conclude that the CS belief is wrong. In many such cases it appears, after many years, that the CS hypothesis was valid after all. It is argued that this error of accepting the "theoretical" null hypothesis reflects confusion between the operationalized hypothesis and the theory or generalization that it is designed to test. That is, on the basis of reliable null data one can accept the operationalized null hypothesis (e.g., "A measure of attitude x is not correlated with a measure of behavior y"). In contrast, one cannot generalize from the findings and accept the abstract or theoretical null (e.g., "We know that attitudes do not predict behavior"). The practice of accepting the theoretical null hypothesis hampers research and reduces the trust of the public in psychological research.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047684577&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/0033-2909.127.3.408
DO - 10.1037/0033-2909.127.3.408
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C2 - 11393303
AN - SCOPUS:85047684577
SN - 0033-2909
VL - 127
SP - 408
EP - 423
JO - Psychological Bulletin
JF - Psychological Bulletin
IS - 3
ER -