Moving with the times: keeping up with trends in statistical analysis and research design

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors review some current controversies in statistics and measurement and suggest what they might mean for research in sport psychology. The first section of the chapter deals with the debate on the use of null hypothesis testing, a debate that has gathered considerable momentum over the past five years. Because most research in the field still relies on conventional tests of significance - after all, that is the approach still advocated in most textbooks - it is important that arguments for and against significance testing be reviewed, and it be considered whether there is a need to change the way things are done. The authors' own summation of the debate is that it comes down to a question of reliability: the faith one has in one's experimental outcomes. They suggest a number of ways in which researchers in sport psychology can improve the confidence they have in the results of single studies.