CONFIDENCE-INTERVALS AND THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD - A CASE FOR HOLM ON THE RANGE

Based on principles of modern philosophy of science, it can be concluded that it is the magnitude of a population effect that is the essential quantity to examine in determining support or lack of support for a theoretical prediction. To test for theoretical support, the corresponding statistical null hypothesis must be derived from the theoretical prediction, which means that we must specify and test a range null hypothesis. Similarly, confidence intervals based on range null hypotheses are required. Certain of the newer multiple comparison procedures are discussed in terms of their applicability to the problem of generating confidence intervals based on range null hypotheses to control the familywise Type I error rate in multiple-sample experiments.