Elusive Alpha and Beta Control in a Multicausal World

Virtually all scientific outlets, including the most prestigious journals, have implemented strict rules of α and (1–β) control, supposed to quantify the probability of a significant result assuming H0 and H1, respectively. However, estimation of α and β rests on the untenable assumption that a systematic effect ΔY in the dependent variable cannot be brought about by any other causal influence than the influence ΔX stated in H1 and negated in...