Cents Quote by Ronald Fisher
“If one in twenty does not seem high enough odds, we may, if we prefer it, draw the line at one in fifty (the 2 per cent. point), or one in a hundred (the 1 per cent. point). Personally, the writer prefers to set a low standard of significance at the 5 per cent. point, and ignore entirely all results which fail to reach this level. A scientific fact should be regarded as experimentally established only if a properly designed experiment rarely fails to give this level of significance.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Statistical Methods for Research Workers, 1925
Statistical significance thresholds are conventions; Fisher suggests a 5% cutoff for deeming results reliable.
In simple terms: Use 5% as a standard for significance.
Key Takeaway
Adopt a clear significance level.
Themes
statistics
research
significance
Mood
analytical
critical
Type
educational
informative
When to use this quote
- clinical trials
- psychology studies
- economics research
- policy analysis
Key Concepts
p-values
confidence intervals
null hypothesis testing
Questions to Reflect On
- Is a 5% cutoff always appropriate?
- How do you handle results near the threshold?
A Different Perspective
Different fields may require stricter or looser thresholds.
![“[Coining the phrase "test of significance"] Critical tests of this kind may be called tests of significance, and when such tests are available we may discover whether a second sample is or is not significantly different from the first.” quote by Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ddb/ronald-fisher-14852_available_coining-the-phrase-test-of-significance_46951.jpg)
