P-Value Beyond Any Usual Limit of Significance

by Joseph Berkson · 1938

I believe that an observant statistician who has had any considerable experience with applying the chi-square test repeatedly will agree with my statement that, as a matterof observation, when the numbersin the data are quite large, the P’s tend to come out small. Having observed this, and on reflection, I make the following dogmatic statement, referring for illustration to the normal curve: “If the normal curve is fitted to a body of data representingany real observations whatever of quantitiesin the physical world, hen if the number of observationsis extremely large - for instance, on the order of 200,000-the chi-square P will be small beyond any usual limit of significance.”