A Closer Look at Effect Sizes and Their Relevance to Health Education

Abstract

A number of academic disciplines are engaged in scholarly discussions regarding statistical practice reform, particularly the use of effect sizes. Health education must stimulate a similar conversation by adopting strategies for generating, reporting, and interpreting effect size estimates for various statistical analyses within journal articles. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the practical applications of effect size reporting and interpretation in health education research. Congruent with previous recommendations in the American Journal of Health Education, this article will provide examples and techniques used for effect size reporting that educate the researcher and practitioner, thus improving the scholarship of health education publications. Effect size reporting should become the rule for health education and concerted efforts should be made to equip researchers and practitioners with the proficiency to perform this task effectively. Such skill building will increase the scholarship and readability of health education research.