Interaction effect: Are you doing the right thing?
How to correctly interpret interaction effects has been largely discussed in scientific literature. Nevertheless, misinterpretations are still frequently observed, and neuroscience is not exempt from this trend. We reviewed 645 papers published from 2019 to 2020 and found that, in the 93.2% of studi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271668 |
| _version_ | 1811222392288051200 |
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| author | Sara Garofalo Sara Giovagnoli Matteo Orsoni Francesca Starita Mariagrazia Benassi |
| author_facet | Sara Garofalo Sara Giovagnoli Matteo Orsoni Francesca Starita Mariagrazia Benassi |
| author_sort | Sara Garofalo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | How to correctly interpret interaction effects has been largely discussed in scientific literature. Nevertheless, misinterpretations are still frequently observed, and neuroscience is not exempt from this trend. We reviewed 645 papers published from 2019 to 2020 and found that, in the 93.2% of studies reporting a statistically significant interaction effect (N = 221), post-hoc pairwise comparisons were the designated method adopted to interpret its results. Given the widespread use of this approach, we aim to: (1) highlight its limitations and how it can lead to misinterpretations of the interaction effect; (2) discuss more effective and powerful ways to correctly interpret interaction effects, including both explorative and model selection procedures. The paper provides practical examples and freely accessible online materials to reproduce all analyses. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T08:15:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ed95a1dceb034584a374472652d86d48 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T08:15:03Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-ed95a1dceb034584a374472652d86d482022-12-22T03:40:49ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01177e027166810.1371/journal.pone.0271668Interaction effect: Are you doing the right thing?Sara GarofaloSara GiovagnoliMatteo OrsoniFrancesca StaritaMariagrazia BenassiHow to correctly interpret interaction effects has been largely discussed in scientific literature. Nevertheless, misinterpretations are still frequently observed, and neuroscience is not exempt from this trend. We reviewed 645 papers published from 2019 to 2020 and found that, in the 93.2% of studies reporting a statistically significant interaction effect (N = 221), post-hoc pairwise comparisons were the designated method adopted to interpret its results. Given the widespread use of this approach, we aim to: (1) highlight its limitations and how it can lead to misinterpretations of the interaction effect; (2) discuss more effective and powerful ways to correctly interpret interaction effects, including both explorative and model selection procedures. The paper provides practical examples and freely accessible online materials to reproduce all analyses.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271668 |
| spellingShingle | Sara Garofalo Sara Giovagnoli Matteo Orsoni Francesca Starita Mariagrazia Benassi Interaction effect: Are you doing the right thing? PLoS ONE |
| title | Interaction effect: Are you doing the right thing? |
| title_full | Interaction effect: Are you doing the right thing? |
| title_fullStr | Interaction effect: Are you doing the right thing? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Interaction effect: Are you doing the right thing? |
| title_short | Interaction effect: Are you doing the right thing? |
| title_sort | interaction effect are you doing the right thing |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271668 |
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