The article explains the various errors that occur in the use of the concept of statistical significance. It points to the problem of census, nonprobability sampling, sampling of small populations and small samples. Another topic is the use of statistical methods on aggregated data files, especially from international research, and on weighted data. The authors point out that in many cases the use of statistical significance is not appropriate, and they warn against the incorrect use of traditional statistical methods. The article also presents methods that can be used to avoid the problems to which the authors have drawn attention.
In this paper I argue that there is an affinity between the ‘dissident’ in Havel’s essay “The Power of the Powerless” and the ‘spectre’ in Derrida’s readings of Marx. Both are manifestations of a specific modern temporality that Derrida calls “disjointed”, because it is haunted by a revolutionary force and claim for justice. Both also evoke the weak messianic power inherent in Walter Benjamin’s historiography and the spectral responsibility recognised by this power, that is, our responsibility for past and future generations. In post-totalitarian Czechoslovakia, the “nonpolitical” dissident community prefigured the renewal of moral experiences of responsibility and solidarity. In contemporary discussions of democracy, the figure of the spectre is a reminder of the significance of the Marxist legacy beyond its ideological doctrine.