P-hacking
noun, verb
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The practice of reanalysis of data until a desired result is obtained which is statistically significant. uncountable
"Cherry-picking promising findings, also known by such terms as data dredging, significance chasing, significance questing, selective inference, and “p-hacking,” leads to a spurious excess of statistically significant results in the published literature and should be vigorously avoided."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of p-hacking alt-of, uncountable
Verb
- 1 present participle and gerund of p-hack form-of, gerund, participle, present
Example
More examples"There are many common problematic research practices such as p-hacking."
Etymology
Blend of p-value + hacking, from "p" for probability. Coined by researchers Uri Simonsohn, Leif D. Nelson, and Joseph P. Simmons, in 2014.