Significance testing in economics: McCloskey, Ziliak, Hoover, and Siegler:
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October 5, 2007
Significance testing in economics: McCloskey, Ziliak, Hoover, and Siegler
Scott Cunningham writes,
Today I was rereading Deirdre McCloskey and Ziliak's JEL paper on statistical significance, and then reading for the first time their detailed response to a critic who challenged their original paper. I was wondering what opinion you had about this debate. Is statistical significance and Fisher tests of significance as maligned and problematic as McCloskey and Ziliak claim? In your professional opinion, what is the proper use of seeking to scientifically prove that a result is valid and important?
The relevant papers are:
McCloskey and Ziliak, "The Standard Error of Regressions," Journal of Economic Literature 1996.
Ziliak and McCloskey, "Size Matters: The Standard Error of Regressions in the American
Economic Review,"