Guidelines for Evaluating the Validity of a Statistical Study in a General Education Statistics Course

A statistical study could be biased or invalid even when conducted by a researcher with a good reputation. It is the responsibility of the reader to critically examine a study’s conclusion for accuracy and to discover hidden... [ view full abstract ]

A statistical study could be biased or invalid even when conducted by a researcher with a good reputation. It is the responsibility of the reader to critically examine a study’s conclusion for accuracy and to discover hidden biases or invalid conclusions. In this paper, we give some guidelines that students can use to critically evaluate the validity of the methodology and conclusion of a statistical study.