Avoiding the eyeballing fallacy: Visualizing statistical differences between estimates using the pheatplot command

Elisa Brini, Solveig Topstad Borgen and Nicolai T. Borgen
Additional contact information
Solveig Topstad Borgen: University of Oslo

No fghcd, SocArXiv from Center for Open Science

Abstract: Graphical representations of coefficients and confidence intervals of regression coefficients are increasingly used in scientific presentations and publications due to their easier and quicker readability compared to tables. However, in coefficient plots that include several estimated coefficients, researchers often use the confidence intervals to eyeball whether coefficients are statistically significant from each other, which results in an overly conservative test and increased risk of type II error. To avoid this eyeballing fallacy, we introduce the pheatplot postestimation command, designed to visualize the statistical significance across estimates of categorical variables in a regression model. It efficiently compares the significance level between point estimates and helps researchers avoid making wrong assumptions about whether estimates differ. Moreover, by representing p-values as a continuous measure rather than a binary threshold, it provides the flexibility to move beyond arbitrary cutoffs of statistical significance. This article provides a series of examples that illustrate the functionality of the pheatplot command.

Date: 2023-09-27
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://osf.io/download/651489683d9bde027a8d8415/

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:socarx:fghcd

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/fghcd

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in SocArXiv from Center for Open Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by OSF ().