P接近0.05，可以有100种英文描述方法？！
写在前面：小咖在找文章素材的时候，从一篇论文的引用文献中发现了一篇很有意思的文章，题目为“如果你的P值刚好和0.05擦肩而过，你会咋办？”。看完之后，深感英文的文字游戏也可以玩得这么溜。到底说了些啥呢，大家耐心看下去，越到后面越有意思。
如果你的P值刚好和0.05擦肩而过，你该咋办？
尝试了各种合适的统计学方法，P值依然稳稳地略高于0.05，你应该得出结论“无统计学意义(non-significant)”，并这样写到文章里。然而，对于很多作者来说，这并不是他们想寻找的答案：因为感觉发布“阴性结果”的文章要比“阳性结果”的文章难呀。
很多人的解决方案就是采用由来已久的迂回策略，将无统计学意义的结果装扮地更有趣。下面这个列表，来自于同行评审期刊中的文章，这些文章的共同点是：（1）作者设定P<0.05为具有统计学意义；（2）结果未能达到P<0.05；（3）文章在描述的时候让P值看起来更有意思了。
（注：为了原汁原味的展示作者们的有趣措辞，以下英文描述不再翻译，咳咳，其实是小咖不知道该怎么翻译。。。）
hint of significance (p>0.05)
only a little short of significance (p>0.05)
a strong tendency towards statistical significance (p=0.051)
significantly better overall (p=0.051)
slightly missed the margin of significance (p=0.051)
narrowly avoided significance (p=0.052)
not exactly significant (p=0.052)
a possible trend toward significance (p=0.052)
(barely) not statistically significant (p=0.052)
borderline level of statistical significance (p=0.053)
just lacked significance (p=0.053)
at the very edge of significance (p=0.053)
on the cusp of conventional statistical significance (p=0.054)
at the limit of significance (p=0.054)
close to being statistically significant (p=0.055)
not unequivocally significant (p=0.055)
noticeably significant (p=0.055)
on the boundary of significance (p=0.055)
very closely approaches the conventional significance level (p=0.055)
weakly statistically significant (p=0.0557)
better trends of improvement (p=0.056)
near to statistical significance (p=0.056)
just marginally significant (p=0.0562)
at the verge of significance (p=0.058)
just borderline significant (p=0.058)
hovered at nearly a significant level (p=0.058)
in the edge of significance (p=0.059)
on the threshold of significance (p=0.059)
virtually significant (p=0.059)
on the very borderline of significance (0.05<p<0.06)
an observed trend (p=0.06)
approached near significance (p=0.06)
at the brink of significance (p=0.06)
barely outside the range of significance (p=0.06)
close to being significant (p=0.06)
equivocal significance (p=0.06)
just outside the traditional bounds of significance (p=0.06)
leaning towards statistical significance (p=0.06)
not as significant (p=0.06)
not currently significant (p=0.06)
slight non-significance (p=0.06)
slightly exceeded significance level (p=0.06)
tended to be significant (p=0.06)
almost significant tendency (p=0.06)
an inverse trend toward significance (p=0.06)
slightly failed to reach statistical significance (p=0.061)
slightly missed the conventional level of significance (p=0.061)
fell narrowly short of significance (p=0.0623)
near nominal significance (p=0.064)
not significant in the normally accepted statistical sense (p=0.064)
very nearly significant (p=0.0656)
closely approaches the statistical significance (p=0.0669)
barely failed to attain statistical significance (p=0.067)
slightly below the level of significance (p=0.068)
a considerable trend toward significance (p=0.069)
approaching clinical significance (p=0.07)
difference was apparent (p=0.07)
fell marginally short of significance (p=0.07)
just fails to reach conventional levels of statistical significance (p=0.07)
nearly reached a significant level (p=0.07)
slightly insignificant (p=0.07)
tendency toward statistical significance (p=0.07)
close to borderline significance (p=0.072)
a barely detectable statistically significant difference (p=0.073)
slightly outside the significance level (p=0.077)
did not quite reach conventional levels of statistical significance (p=0.079)
a trend close to significance (p=0.08)
an expected trend (p=0.08)
approaching, although not reaching, significance (p=0.08)
not significant in the formal statistical sense (p=0.08)
not very definitely significant from the statistical point of view (p=0.08)
almost non-significant (p=0.083)
not fully significant (p=0.085)
approaching a level of significance (p=0.089)
not highly significant (p=0.089)
approaching, but not reaching, significance (p<0.09)
a numerical trend (p=0.09)
a significant trend (p=0.09)
a small trend (p=0.09)
highly significant (p=0.09)
tended to approach significance (p=0.09)
does not reach the conventional significance level (p=0.098)
very slightly significant (p<0.1)
almost clinically significant (p<0.10)
an adverse trend (p=0.10)
essentially significant (p=0.10)
not entirely significant (p=0.10)
possibly statistically significant (p=0.10)
very slightly non-significant (p=0.10)
tantalisingly close to significance (p=0.104)
approaching formal significance (p=0.1052)
not decisively significant (p=0.106)
tentatively significant (p=0.107)
verged on being significant (p=0.11)
possibly marginally significant (p=0.116)
fell just short of statistical significance (p=0.12)
fell somewhat short of significance (p=0.138)
approaches but fails to achieve a customary level of statistical significance (p=0.154)
close to the limit of significance (p=0.17)
a very slight trend toward significance (p=0.20)
受篇幅所限，上面列表随机抽取了原文列表的五分之一，所以说不止100种，是有500种呀，想看完整版的可以查看下面这个链接：https://mchankins.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/still-not-significant-2/
精彩回顾
关注医咖会，了解统计学！
有临床研究设计或统计学方面的难题？快加小咖个人微信（xys2016ykf），加入医咖会统计讨论群，和小伙伴们一起交流学习吧。我们诚邀各位小伙伴加入我们，一起创作有价值的内容，将知识共享给更多人！
点击左下角“阅读原文”，看看医咖会既往推送了哪些研究设计或统计学文章。