A Comfort Index for Statistical Inference-Making

Abstract

An index that measures the degree of comfort a researcher has relative to a statistical inference application is proposed. The index is calculated by selecting and weighting components inherent in the conduct of hypothesis tests and confidence intervals, and its values range from 0 to 1. Illustrations of calculating and interpreting the index using a published research report and the comparability of indices produced by several researchers from one ‘research report are described. Potential applications and limitations of the index are discussed.