st: Re: RE: Re: Statistical significance vs the 95% confidence intervals-- how should i interpret these

["Michael Blasnik" <michael.blasnik@verizon.net>]

If a confidence interval includes 0, then you can say that the effect is not 
"statistically significant", but that is different situation from when two 
confidence intervals overlap.  You are now estimating the area of overlap in 
two distributions which will tend to be smaller than the overlap calculated 
based on their two separate confidence intervals.  You instead need to 
estimate the standard error of the difference and use that directly.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jason Yackee" <jyackee@law.usc.edu>
To: <statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu>
Sent: Friday, December 08, 2006 2:37 PM
Subject: st: RE: Re: Statistical significance vs the 95% confidence 
intervals -- how should i interpret these


<snip>

> So my question is: when we have this case -- a confidence interval
> spanning the zero point -- is it both technically correct and not unduly
> misleading to the average reader to say that the effect is not
> "statistically significant"?
>
> Jason
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