Standardization choices can reverse which findings count as statistically significant.

Evidence

Semantic transformations usually have an impact on causal and statistical analyses. For example, in the (in)famous Bell curve debate, standardization significantly changes the statistical and substantive analyses (see Fischer et al. 1996). What is significant in the original book as standardized changes significantly when nonstandardized variables are used. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 869

Categorization

• QUESTION: Which Bell Curve conclusions specifically flip? Worth pulling Fischer et al. 1996 to see which results are standardization artifacts.
• XREF: Ties to prior reading on how measurement choices constitute the object of study (e.g. the archival-grain material on categories shaping findings).