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Principles: when there should be no difference--how to fail to reject the null hypothesis.

Lew MJ

Department of Pharmacology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. michaell@unimelb.edu.au

It is common to perform experiments in which a 'success' is claimed when the null hypothesis is discarded. However, there is a category of experiment that has become important in which a success is when the null hypothesis is not rejected. Failing to discard the null hypothesis is different from proving it to be valid, a distinction that is particularly important in experiments in which any inadequacy of experimental design or implementation enhances the likelihood of a success. The appropriate analysis of such experiments tests for evidence of the validity of the null hypothesis rather than simply failing to find evidence against it.

Published 12 May 2006 in Trends Pharmacol Sci, 27(5): 274-8.
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