ECTS: 1.5
Course leader: Morten Schmidt
Language: English
Graduate school: Faculty of Health
Graduate program: ClinFO
Course fee: 1,800.00 DKK
Status: Course is open for application
Semester: Fall 2027
Application deadline: 13/10/2027
Cancellation deadline: 27/10/2027
Course type: Classroom teaching
Start date: 10/11/2027
Administrator: Lena Melchior
The course C312/ Retire statistical significance: a world beyond p<0.05 is being offered by the Graduate School of Health, Aarhus University, 2027.
Criteria for participation: University degree in medicine, dentistry, nursing, or Master’s degree in other fields and/or postgraduate research fellows (PhD students and research-year medical students). The content is relevant for all health researchers, but the examples provided during the course will relate to clinical and epidemiological research and not basic (experimental) research.
Requirements for participation: University degree in medicine, dentistry, nursing, or master’s degree in other fields and/or postgraduate research fellows (PhD students and research-year medical students). Basic biostatistical knowledge is assumed.
Aim: To develop a critical understanding of how random error influences research findings and to promote appropriate interpretation beyond conventional statistical significance testing.
Learning outcomes:
- To define point estimates, confidence intervals, and p-values.
- To identify mistaken inferences due to misinterpretations of significance tests.
- To recognize the clinical context's importance in interpreting effect estimates.
- To apply Apps to aid in the interpretation of effect estimates.
- To evaluate treatment effects considering both systematic and random errors.
- To reflect on the approach to data interpretation in your research environments.
Workload: The full workload of the course is expected to be 20 hours (incl. 5 hours pre-course reading)
Content:
- Review of statistical and epidemiological concepts
- Statistical inference
- Internal validity: systematic vs. random errors
- Hypothesis testing, p-value, point estimates, and confidence intervals
- Interpretation of effect estimates
- The clinical context
- Clinical statistical significance
- The Null result
- Clinical trial considerations
- Sample size calculations
- Misinterpretations of significance testing
- The epidemiologist’s perspective
- The statistician’s perspective
- Key papers, persons, and arguments in the debate
- Critical appraisal of observational and randomised studies
- Advanced topics
- Type 1 vs. type 2 errors: which is worst?
- 99% CI vs. 95% CI: which is best?
- Confidence Limit Ratios
- P-value functions
- Multiple comparisons:
- Subgroup analyses
- Expert panel debate (online): Pro et cons*
- When Peer Reviewers Push for P-values:
- The role of editors and reviewers
- How to reply, resist, and refuse
- Study activities:
- The Conclusion Generator: Apply your own results
- Multiple choice assessment: Alignment with learning objectives
* Expert panelists
Instructors: Professor Morten Schmidt, MD, PhD, DMSc and Professor Erik Parner, MSc, PhD.
Venue: Aarhus University, Aarhus.
Participation in the course is without cost for:
- PhD students, Health Research Year students from Aarhus University
- PhD students enrolled at partner universities of the Nordoc collaboration
- PhD students from other institutions in the open market agreement for PhD courses
Course dates:
- 10 November 2027 08:00 - 15:30
- 11 November 2027 08:00 - 15:30