In my experience, statistics is a cognitive dissonance-inducing mathematical science and no one tends to recall their personal and professional statistical experiences with much zeal. It's as if there is an automatic recoil when the topic of statistics enters the discussion and planning of a research study. The literature has posited that statistics are intimidating and nebulous because many people do not possess the necessary competencies and experience with statistics and also people do not understand the lexicon of the science.

The most important thing to remember about applied statistics, despite their prevalence, relevance, and utility in everyday life, is that they are tools that human beings use to communicate the results of data analysis. Hypothesis testing is employed in empirical research so that researchers can present their findings in a relative context that is interpretable and applicable in other research and applied environments.

Statistics are useful ONLY when they are used to answer useful, appropriate, answerable, relevant, and valid research questions that are grounded in the empirical literature.