Comments on Clark's “The language-as-fixed-effect fallacy”

Clark's arguments for treating language materials as random rather than fixed effects are examined, and the problems with random effects designs and approximate statistical tests (quasi F -ratios) are reviewed. In view of the difficulties with Clark's recommended procedures and the present lack of knowledge regarding approximate tests, it is suggested that researchers use fixed factors, which are better understood statistically, and seek nonstatistical generality by means of replication.