Estimation statistics should replace significance testing

Abstract

In place of significance testing, a preferred statistical methodology is accessible with modest re-training. However, an obstacle to the adoption of this alternative is a basic branding problem: it does not have a widely-used name. We suggest the most appropriate name for this superior approach is ‘estimation statistics,’ a term describing the methods that focus on the estimation of effect sizes (point estimates) and their confidence intervals (precision estimates). Estimation statistics offers several key benefits. This letter was previously published In Nature Methods at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.372