statistical significance

the degree to which a research outcome cannot reasonably be attributed to the operation of chance or random factors. It is determined during significance testing and given by a critical p value, which is the probability of obtaining the observed data if the null hypothesis (i.e., of no significant relationship between variables) were true. Significance generally is a function of sample size—the larger the sample, the less likely it is that one’s findings will have occurred by chance. See also clinical significance; practical significance; significance level.

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Psychology term of the day

April 26th 2024

automatograph

n. a classic device used to measure movement. It consists of a plate that lies on metal balls and thus follows every impulse of the hand that lies flat on it: The plate has an attachment by which the slightest involuntary movements are registered.