Null or Nil

Null or Nil Steve Bunk's 5-PRIME on the null hypothesis was a good, brief piece.1 However, he made the common error of confusing the null hypothesis (the hypothesis against which the research result is tested) with the nil hypothesis (definition: if samples come from populations with identical parameters, the hypothesized difference is zero). The null hypothesis--that is, the one "sought to be nullified"--may be nil. But it also may be a population parameter, or a specified difference betwe


Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

Steve Bunk's 5-PRIME on the null hypothesis was a good, brief piece.1 However, he made the common error of confusing the null hypothesis (the hypothesis against which the research result is tested) with the nil hypothesis (definition: if samples come from populations with identical parameters, the hypothesized difference is zero). The null hypothesis--that is, the one "sought to be nullified"--may be nil. But it also may be a population parameter, or a specified difference between population parameters, against which any difference between the samples are to be tested.

Statistical significance is a function of sample size. With large enough samples, practically every difference will be statistically significant; with small samples, important results may be overlooked if statistical significance is relied on exclusively. Bunk's reminder that statistical significance does not necessarily indicate substantive significance is, for a few reasons, on target.

James P. Shaver
Hyrum, UT
shaver@cc.usu.edu

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Explore a Concise Guide to Optimizing Viral Transduction

A Visual Guide to Lentiviral Gene Delivery

Takara Bio
Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio