11

I've run a Kruskal Wallis test, and for some of the questions the p value is not significant. Would I report this in the same way as if it was significant, stating the df, test statistic and p-value? So it would be something like this a Kruskal Wallis test was conducted but the results were found not to be significant H(3) = 2.119, p>0.05 (or would I state the exact p value here (.548))

kjetil b halvorsen
  • 63,378
  • 26
  • 142
  • 467
Dragonfly
  • 161
  • 2
  • 3
  • 13
  • 3
    Do not publish non-significant results. Otherwise, you'll bias publication bias. – Mark L. Stone Apr 01 '17 at 13:49
  • But publication bias isn't a good thing in itself? Anyway, I'm not 'publishing' the results so to speak, it's for my dissertation but thanks for your comment – Dragonfly Apr 01 '17 at 13:59
  • 2
    Dragonfly, The comment by @Mark is tongue-in-cheek. Remember what day it is, too. BTW, your dissertation is worthless unless it's publishable. – whuber Apr 01 '17 at 19:11
  • 1
    Do report it in our thesis. And please do read Andrew Gelman's blog regulary: http://andrewgelman.com/?s=p+value . I disagree with @whuber - you may have good stuff in your thesis even if it's not publishable. If it's accepted you have your degree. – Ethan Bolker Apr 01 '17 at 23:57

2 Answers2

18

Yes, non-significant results are just as important as significant ones. If you are reporting any result, always include the df, test statistic, and p value. And in that case, you should state the exact p-value, rather than generalising to >0.05

Conor Neilson
  • 781
  • 6
  • 12
7

If you are publishing a paper in the open literature, you should definitely report statistically insignificant results the same way you report statistical significant results. Otherwise you contribute to underreporting bias.

Michael R. Chernick
  • 39,640
  • 28
  • 74
  • 143
  • But why? This implies insignificant values are just as important as significant ones. Is this because there is still a chance the “insignificant” values are actually significant. Statistical significance is not a definitive claim that something is meaningless. Yes? – user3138766 Jun 29 '21 at 17:41