February, 2003
© 2000, 2001
Scott S. Emerson, M.D., Ph.D.
Decision boundary at
each analysis
Value of test
statistic leading to rejection of null
·Variety of
boundary scales possible
Often has
meaning for applied researchers (especially on scale of
estimated treatment effect)
·Estimated
treatment effects may be viewed as unacceptable for ethical
reasons based on prior notions
·Estimated
treatment effect may be of little interest
due to lack of clinical importance or futility of marketing