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  5. Decimal Dust, Significant Digits, and the Search for Stars

Decimal Dust, Significant Digits, and the Search for Stars

File(s)
Sturman6_Decimal_dust.pdf (659.88 KB)
Permanent Link(s)
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/72308
Collections
SHA Articles and Chapters
Author
Bedeian, Arthur G.
Sturman, Michael C.
Streiner, David L.
Abstract

The practice of rounding statistical results to two decimal places is one of a large number of heuristics followed in the social sciences. In evaluating this heuristic, the authors conducted simulations to investigate the precision of simple correlations. They considered a true correlation of .15 and ran simulations in which the sample sizes were 60, 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 10,000, and 100,000. They then looked at the digits in the correlations’ first, second, and third decimal places to determine their reproducibility. They conclude that when n

Date Issued
2009-01-01
Keywords
estimated and rounding numbers
•
significant digits
•
management
•
heuristic
•
simulation
•
studies
•
statistical precision
•
confidence intervals
Related DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428108321153
Rights
Required Publisher Statement: © SAGE. Final version published as: Bedeian, A. G., Sturman, M. C., & Streiner, D. L. (2009). Decimal dust, significant digits, and the search for stars. Organizational Research Methods, 12(4), 687-694. doi: 10.1177/1094428108321153. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
This article was a finalist for the 2009 ORM Editorial Review Board Best Publication of the Year award.
Type
article

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