Hypothesis testing is derived from the statistical field called decision theory. Modern statisticians to not subscribe to decision theory as it is an artificial an arbitrarily subscribed notion. Having said that, most biologists are 50 years out of date in this respect even under circumstances where hypothesis testing may be useful, most people boil it down to 2 competing hypotheses when, in fact, there are easily seen to be 3, 4, or dozens of alternatives (see approaches in . Standard statistical approaches to hypothesis testing clearly provide options for multiple competing hypotheses, but these approaches are seldom used and regularly ignored. Here is a short list of citations, I think I have represented both sides of the argument, but the list is probably biased against hypothesis testing. THis is not nearly complete, the issue has been beat to death in the literature.
Gardner and Altman. 1986. Confidence intervals rather than P-values: estimation rather than hypothesis testing. British Medical Journal 292:746-750 Anderson et al. 2000. Null hypothesis testing: Problems, prevalence, and an alternative. J of Wildlife Man 54:912-923. Shaffer. 1995. Multiple hypothesis testing. Annual Rev of Psychology 46:561-584. Quinn and Dunham. 1983. On hypothesis testing in ecology and evolution. Am Nat 122:602-617. Stephens et al. 2005. Information theory and hypothesis testing: a call for pleuralism. J Applied Ecology 41:4-12. Landy 1986. Stamp collecting versus science: validation as hypothesis testing. Am Psychol 41:1183-1192. Frick. 1996. The appropriate use of null hypothesis testing. Psychological Methods 1:379-390. Klayman adn Young-won. 1989. Hypothesis testing in rule discovery: strategy, structure, and content. J Exp Psych: Learning, Memory and Cognition 15:596-604. Steiger. 2000. Point estiation, hypothesis testing, and interval estimation using the RMSEA: some comments and a reply to Hayduk and Glaser. Structured Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary JOurnal 7:149-162. Gigerenzer et al. 1991. ON the tyranny of hypothesis testing in the social sciences. Contemporary Psychology 36:102-105. Hobbs, N. Thompson, and Ray Hilborn. "Alternatives to statistical hypothesis testing in ecology: a guide to self teaching." *Ecological Applications* 16.1 (2006): 5-19. Loftus 1993. A picture is worth a thousand p values: On the irrelevance of hypothesis testing in teh microcomputer age. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 25:250-256. Lawson et al. 2000. Development of scientific reasoning in college biology: do two general hypothesis-testing skills exist? J of Res in Sci Teaching 37:81-101 Savin. 1984. Multiple hypothesis testing. Handbook of Econometrics Vol II.. Eds: Griliches and Intriligator. Elsvier Science Publishiers. Loehle. 1987. Hypothesis testing in Ecology: Psychological aspects and the importance of theory maturation. Quart Rev Biol 62:397-409. On Mon, Oct 5, 2015 at 8:17 PM, Manuel Spínola <mspinol...@gmail.com> wrote: > Dear list members, > > > > A few years ago I was having a discussion on this list on > hypothesis-driven research and the hypothetico-dedcutive method as “the > scientific method” in ecology. It seem to me (may be I am wrong) that many > universities in the US are teaching this approach to do research in > ecology. I am wondering if there are other approaches (and references) on > the research process in ecology more suitable to scientists working on > wildlife ecology and conservation. I am teaching a thesis seminar to > master students in wildlife ecology and conservation in Latin America and I > would like to discuss other approaches with them. > > > Many thanks in advance, > > > > Manuel Spínola > -- > *Manuel Spínola, Ph.D.* > Instituto Internacional en Conservación y Manejo de Vida Silvestre > Universidad Nacional > Apartado 1350-3000 > Heredia > COSTA RICA > mspin...@una.ac.cr > mspinol...@gmail.com > Teléfono: (506) 2277-3598 > Fax: (506) 2237-7036 > Personal website: Lobito de río > <https://sites.google.com/site/lobitoderio/> > Institutional website: ICOMVIS <http://www.icomvis.una.ac.cr/> > -- Malcolm L. McCallum, PHD, REP Link to online CV and portfolio : https://www.visualcv.com/malcolm-mc-callum?access=18A9RYkDGxO “Nothing is more priceless and worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed. It is a many-faceted treasure, of value to scholars, scientists, and nature lovers alike, and it forms a vital part of the heritage we all share as Americans.” -President Richard Nixon upon signing the Endangered Species Act of 1973 into law. "Peer pressure is designed to contain anyone with a sense of drive" - Allan Nation 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! The Seven Blunders of the World (Mohandas Gandhi) Wealth w/o work Pleasure w/o conscience Knowledge w/o character Commerce w/o morality Science w/o humanity Worship w/o sacrifice Politics w/o principle Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
