Statistical and Practical Significance of Articles at Sports Biomechanics Conferences

Abstract

Background. The importance of using statistical approaches has increased and became necessary for researchers and specialists in sports biomechanics because they need more objective and accurate methods to increase knowledge. Objectives. Evaluate the reality of using practical significance in the articles published in scientific conferences in the biomechanical sport. Methods. One hundred twenty-four articles were analyzed of 134 in terms of statistical approaches to calculate practical significance. These results were then compared with those of statistical significance to reveal the extent of similarities or differences between the results. Results. The mean test, which was the most commonly used descriptive statistical test, was applied in 114 articles (i.e., 92%); the T-test of paired samples, which was the most used difference measurement tests, was involved in 45 papers (i.e., 36%), statistical tests that measure the relationship between variables were used in 46 articles (i.e., 37%). Likewise, no items used advanced statistical tests except for six articles (i.e., 5%), which used regression and factor analysis. T-test independent samples are the most used statistical tests in sports biomechanics articles in which the results of practical significance matched those of statistical significance (88%). Conclusion. The use of practical significance was almost non-existent. Also, it was observed that there was a large percentage of practical significance mismatch with the statistical significance of many statistical tests, which was a considerable negative indicator that affected the quality of sports biomechanics articles.