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Four Neuroimaging Questions that P-Values Cannot Answer (and Bayesian Analysis Can)

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Book cover Bayesian and grAphical Models for Biomedical Imaging

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 8677))

Abstract

Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST) is used pervasively in neuroimaging studies, despite its known limitations. Recent critiques to these tests have mostly focused on technical issues with multiple comparisons and difficulties in interpreting p-values. While these critiques are valuable, we believe that they overlook the fundamental flaws of NHST in answering research questions. In this paper, we review major limitations inherent to NHST that we formulate as four research questions insoluble with p-values. We demonstrate how, in theory, Bayesian approaches can provide answers to such questions. We discuss the implications of these questions as well as the practicalities of such approaches in neuroimaging.

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Taquet, M., Peters, J.M., Warfield, S.K. (2014). Four Neuroimaging Questions that P-Values Cannot Answer (and Bayesian Analysis Can). In: Cardoso, M.J., Simpson, I., Arbel, T., Precup, D., Ribbens, A. (eds) Bayesian and grAphical Models for Biomedical Imaging. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8677. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12289-2_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12289-2_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-12288-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-12289-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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