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Addressing a statistical power-alpha level blind spot in political- and health-related media research: discontinuous criterion power analyses

ABSTRACT A content analysis of 900 political- and health-related media articles published in 11 outlets from 2010 through 2015 reveals a complete disconnect between discussions of statistical power and alpha levels. This study proposes the use of discontinuous criterion power analyses to address this power-alpha blind spot. Additional analyses indicate a sizeable percentage (41.1%) of published works in these areas retaining sufficient statistical power (i.e. .95 or greater) to warrant the use of a stricter alpha level than the traditional α = .05 to detect small effects. The surgical use of more stringent alpha levels to guard against Type I error will instill greater confidence in the empirical findings generated by media research conducted in political and health contexts.