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Article: Alphas and asterisks: the development of statistical significance testing standards in sociology.
- Article from:
- Social Forces
- Article date:
- September 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 University of North Carolina Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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What is distinctive about sociology's history is the extent to which it both illustrates and challenges sociology itself. --N. J. Demerath, III (1994)
What alpha level do you use when testing for statistical significance? Many sociologists today would say .05. What symbol do you use to indicate this level of statistical significance? Many sociologists would say one asterisk. Although the choice of alpha level should technically depend on sample size, statistical power and sampling procedures, researchers routinely use the .05 percent level (signified by a single asterisk) as a benchmark despite variation in these conditions. In fact, one of the leading journals ...