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critical value

a value used to make decisions about whether a test result is statistically meaningful. For example, to evaluate the result of a t test to determine whether a sample mean is significantly different from the hypothesized population mean, a researcher would compare the obtained test statistic to the values from a t distribution at a given probability level. If the statistic exceeds the critical value within that distribution, the null hypothesis is rejected and the result is considered significant. Also called rejection value. See also critical region.

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Psychology term of the day

March 28th 2024

univariate analysis

univariate analysis

a statistical examination of data for only one variable of interest. For example, a univariate analysis of study habits for a sample of college students would examine habits across all individuals without taking into account whether a particular student was a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior. Also called univariate statistics. Compare multivariate analysis.