Perspective: Scientific rigor or ritual? Statistical significance in pest management science

P values, binary hypothesis tests, and statistical significance are too often overused or used incorrectly in pest management reports. These statistical results are not the point of an analysis, they are just a by-product that can sometimes be informative. The point of the analysis is always a biological interpretation of the data focusing on whether something new has been learned and then quantifying what was learned in terms of biological effects or supported hypotheses. The term 'statistical significance' should be retired if only because of the common misunderstanding that it implies biological relevance; these terms are not equivalent. (c) 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Automated summary

P values, binary hypothesis tests, and statistical significance are often misused or overused in pest management reports. These statistical results are not the focus; the biological interpretation of the data is the key aspect of the analysis.