Statistical conclusion validity: Multiple inferences in rehabilitation research

The problem of multiple statistical inferences and Type I error rates in rehabilitation research is examined. The Bonferroni method is the most commonly advocated procedure to control Type I error in clinical research. The traditional Bonferroni method is often overly conservative and results in a loss of statistical power when more than a small number of comparisons are evaluated. Adjustments to the Bonferroni method designed to control or reduce the incidence of Type I errors and improve the statistical conclusion validity of rehabilitation research are presented. The adjusted or sharpened Bonferroni methods allow the researcher to control the incidence of Type I errors while maintaining statistical power. Adjustments to the Bonferroni method are simple to compute and applicable to a wide variety of statistical tests. The use of appropriate multiple comparison procedures will reduce the number of Type I errors and improve the statistical conclusion validity of rehabilitation research studies.