Using Confidence Intervals in Supply Chain and Operations Research‪.‬

INTRODUCTION The usefulness of hypothesis testing methods has long been the subject of debate in the scientific community (Boring 1919; Kaiser 1960; Morrison and Henkel 1970; Hunter 1997; Wilkinson and the Task Force on Statistical Inferences. 1999), with both the tenor and tone of these criticisms becoming more pronounced in recent years (Harlow, Mulaik and Steiger 1997; Kline 2004). This controversy has resulted in much debate in the social sciences regarding the appropriate use of hypothesis testing. In an attempt to provide further clarity to this highly charged subject, we make the important distinction between informative and noninformative hypothesis testing and explain why, whenever possible, confidence intervals should replace the use of hypothesis testing.