Signifcance level

The call I received somehow reminds me of this concept of "statistical significance" and "significant results."

So I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out what the concept of "statistical significance" has to do with the unfolding of life's story.

I tried really hard to do the free association thing but kept on experiencing blockage in unveiling more revelations.

When I decided to take a smoking break, I realized that I again, perhaps, was trapped in a local minimum.... while, today, the brain doesn't work too well and I might not be able to see where the global solution might be...

And, I thought... the processing of finishing my dissertation was one that converted me from a significance addict to one seeing the significance of insignificance.

[Begin Dissertation]

My dissertation might have the fewest number of statistical significances in the history of all dissertations or you could all it the dissertation of insignificance of all time.

When I started, I had wished to come up with a piece of work that could look as beautiful as any other work I have seen in journal articles... essentially, with "p<.05" everywhere in the result session. Unfortunately, despite all my efforts, I just could not see any consistent statistical significance in the test results. After analyzing and reanalyzing my data gazillion times, at some point, I decided that enough is enough and I got rid of 2/3 of my data (ok... sounds like cheating). With only 1/3 of the original data, I finally found some consistency in the test results. Unfortunately, the majority of these results did not reach the statistical significance level of p<.05. So, I went back to my adviser and I told him something like, "Now I finally got consistent results for my study except for I didn't find too many statistical significance in my study." And, I guess, both of us agree that the most significant finding is that, somehow the model I was trying to test just doesn't work with the interface I have designed. [End Dissertation] Then, recently, I am helping someone else analyzing his data. Similar scenario occurred with his data set where the numbers we got from his data are not as beautiful as what we would like it to be. During my meeting with him, all of a sudden, the results he got reminded me of those I obtained in my dissertation and I heard myself telling him, "Just because you do not get statistical significance or high correlation doesn't mean the findings are not significant. Significance is about how you choose to make interpretions about your findings and to elaborate upon them. Such is what I have to say about the significance level. Please find following the paragraphs I drafted in local minimum. 8-O lol

[Begin Statistical Significance in Local Minimum]

In academia, papers need to have statistical significance in order to be accepted for publications by journals. Statistical significances are also one evaluation criteria for dissertations shall the study involves some kind of "stats".

The need to find "statistical significance" for the hypothesis being tested does make sense because it is a simple way to filter out studies that do not tell us too much about any thing.

At the same time, just because something reaches statistical significance, it doesn't mean the results are of any meaning.

However, just because a study does not find too many of the statistical significances, it doesn't mean that the study results are deemed to be insignificant in all capacities.

Statistical significances themselves could only offer little information and they are only as important as the amount of meaningfulness we are willing to assign to them or to become attached to them.

It, then, occurs to me that... such phenomena could be observed in the everyday life.... Take the egocentric me for instance...

1. There were so many a time when I thought, if I tried harder, I would be able to beat the odds and keep the relationship together. (similar to statistical insignificance since they all are jackasses now)
2. There was once upon a time when I wanted to be someone significant, be it a guru in usability, an expert in forensic or any other kinds of psychology, etc. (similar to statistical insignificance since I am no guru in no nothing)
3. There was also once and not to long ago when I wanted to prove to the world that a psychotic and neurotic (although a friend of mine told me that I am the least neurotic person she knows) could amount to something. (similar to statistical insignificance in real world and statistical significance in my delusional world, which means nothing to nobody... lol)
4. Then, there came a time when I wanted to prove to people that it is not conversion disorder that is solely responsible for my pains and mobility problems. (similar to statistical significance for people who still thinks it is all but psychosomatic or conversion thing; yet, what could you do about it? lol)
5. And, of course, to this date, I am still struggling to test out whether psychotics could make use of their cognition to cope with the side effects of their cognition. (similar to statistical insignificance considering I went into the cuckoo's nest; yet, similar to statistical significance since I think I am coping pretty well... lol)

[End Statistical Significance in Local Minimum]