What does a p-value of less than 0.05 indicate about the results of a study?

What does a p-value of less than 0.05 indicate about the results of a study?

• A. There is a 50% chance the results are due to random error.
• B. There is less than a 5% chance the results were obtained by random error.
• C. There is a 5% chance that the data is statistically insignificant.
• D. There is a 95% certainty of random chance.

Answer: (B)

A p-value of less than 0.05 indicates that there is less than a 5% chance that the observed results are due to random error, assuming the null hypothesis is true. This statistic is used in hypothesis testing to help researchers determine whether to reject the null hypothesis. When the p-value falls below this threshold, it suggests that the findings are statistically significant and that there is strong evidence against the null hypothesis. This can imply that the effect observed in the study is likely to be real rather than an artifact of random variation in the data. Thus, by establishing a p-value under 0.05, researchers can confidently interpret their results as meaningful in the context of their study.

A p-value of less than 0.05 indicates that there is less than a 5% chance that the observed results are due to random error, assuming the null hypothesis is true. This statistic is used in hypothesis testing to help researchers determine whether to reject the null hypothesis. When the p-value falls below this threshold, it suggests that the findings are statistically significant and that there is strong evidence against the null hypothesis. This can imply that the effect observed in the study is likely to be real rather than an artifact of random variation in the data. Thus, by establishing a p-value under 0.05, researchers can confidently interpret their results as meaningful in the context of their study.