Customer-Centric Science: Reporting Significant Research Results With Rigor, Relevance, and Practical Impact in Mind

Abstract

In response to the ongoing concern regarding a science-practice gap, we propose a customer-centric approach to reporting significant research results that involves a sequence of three interdependent steps. The first step involves setting an alpha level (i.e., a priori Type I error rate) that considers the relative seriousness of falsely rejecting a null hypothesis of no effect or relationship (i.e., Type I error) relative to not detecting an existing effect or relationship (i.e., Type II error) and reporting the actual observed p value (i.e., probability that the data would be obtained if the null hypothesis is true). The second step involves reporting estimates of the size of the effect or relationship, which indicate the extent to which an outcome is explained or predicted. The third step includes reporting results of a qualitative study to gather evidence regarding the practical significance of the effect or relationship. Our proposal to report research results with rigor, relevance, and practical impact involves important changes in how we report research results with the goal to bridge the science-practice gap.