In March 2016, The American Statistical Association (ASA) issued a statement on how to improve the conduct and interpretation of quantitative science and inform the growing emphasis on reproducibility of science research.
Explore This IssueOctober 2017
“The p-value was never intended to be a substitute for scientific reasoning,” said Ron Wasserstein, the ASA’s executive director, in the statement. “Well-reasoned statistical arguments contain much more than the value of a single number and whether that number exceeds an arbitrary threshold. The ASA statement is intended to steer research into a post p<0.05 era.”
The NIH has a web page dedicated to providing information about its efforts to enhance rigor and reproducibility in scientific research. “When a result can be reproduced by multiple scientists, it validates the original results and readiness to progress to the next phase of research,” the web page states. “This is especially important for clinical trials in humans, which are built on studies that have demonstrated a particular effect or outcome.”