Running Head: EFFECT SIZES 1

Chapter 3: Overview of Effect Sizes

Today, qualitative studies are valued for their relevance, and quantitative studies are

considered more scientific. Thus, many healthcare professionals engage in quantitative research,

and statistical significance testing remains one of its cornerstones. Predominantly, p-values that

inform people that an effect exists are used. But what about effect sizes expected to be the main

findings of quantitative studies? Unfortunately, effect size receives negligible attention, primarily

due to a lack of knowledge. Hence, this paper explains an effect size and how it is chosen.

Effect size is a simple way to quantify the difference between two groups (Coe, 2002). It

is also a useful statistical tool that measures the strength of treatment responses or relationships

between variables (Maher, Markey, & Ebert-May, 2013). Lastly, Borenstein, Hedges, Higgins, &

Rothstein (2009) contend that the term is used differently such that in the social sciences, the

term “effect size” is used to quantify the relationship between two variables or the difference

between two groups, while in medicine, the term “treatment effect” is used to quantify the

effects of deliberate intervention. Nevertheless, using such indices depends on the nature of the

study. Additionally, regardless of the index used, the effect sizes are chosen because they are

comparable since they measure the same thing, are computable from the information reported in

published manuscripts, and have good technical properties.

All told, effect sizes serve as aids for researchers to understand the magnitude of

differences found easily. At the same time, using such indices helps researchers move beyond

knowing if something works, hence becoming a medium for a more scientific approach to

knowledge generation.
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References

Borenstein, M., Hedges, L., Higgins, J., & Rothstein, H. (2009). Introduction to Meta-Analysis.

Hoboken, United States: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Coe, R. (2002, September 12). It’s the Effect Size, Stupid! What effect size is and why it is

important. Retrieved September 6, 2018, from

https://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00002182.htm

Maher, J., Markey, J., & Ebert-May, D. (2013). The Other Half of the Story: Effect Size

Analysis in Quantitative Research. CBE Life Sciences Education, 345-351.