Not null enough: pseudo-null hypotheses in community ecology and comparative psychology

Article Article scientifique Article Not null enough: pseudo-null hypotheses in community ecology and comparative psychology eng 2018-08-30 2018-08 author Bausman William Clifford 0000-0002-7445-8722 861947 author Halina Marta 10.1007/s10539-018-9640-4 0169-3867 We evaluate a common reasoning strategy used in community ecology and comparative psychology for selecting between competing hypotheses. This strategy labels one hypothesis as a “null” on the grounds of its simplicity and epistemically privileges it as accepted until rejected. We argue that this strategy is unjustified. The asymmetrical treatment of statistical null hypotheses is justified through the experimental and mathematical contexts in which they are used, but these contexts are missing in the case of the “pseudo-null hypotheses” found in our case studies. Moreover, statistical nulls are often not epistemically privileged in practice over their alternatives because failing to reject the null is usually a negative result about the alternative, experimental hypothesis. Scientists should eschew the appeal to pseudo-nulls. It is a rhetorical strategy that glosses over a commitment to valuing simplicity over other epistemic virtues in the name of good scientific and statistical methodology. Dewey 100/501 89 Département de philosophie 3G false Biology & philosophy 33 3-4 bd1b6332-5eef-4bbd-ab9d-6f2a0c32377d Article (Published version) Public Article_scientifique_from_crossref.pdf 838661 application/pdf OA NATIONAL 84381edd6e0e57ab16e8916d7deb9c2f254a0d286c3878684fd1e70acfbc93ad openAccess Faculté des lettres / Département de philosophie

Title	Published in	Access level	OA Policy	Year	Views	Downloads

Not null enough: pseudo-null hypotheses in community ecology and comparative psychology	Biology & philosophy			2018	3	10

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Bausman, William Clifford