The big idea
🎯
Significant means detectable, not important
The confidence interval answers both questions a p-value cannot.
Statistics for Everyday Life · Lesson 4
Statistical Significance
beginner⏱ 18 min · 7 cards
Try it
Read the Interval
“Improvement of 8 points, 95% CI 6 to 10.”
What does each result actually support?
Decide which results support action, and which cannot tell you anything.
Key term
The most misread number
What does p = 0.02 mean?
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p-value
Data this extreme would appear 2% of the time if there were no real effect. Not the probability the hypothesis is true, and silent on effect size.
Four studies, four readings
Estimate and interval
Tap each.
Nuance
A convention, not a law
Maester Note
Fisher offered 0.05 as a rough marker worth a second look. It hardened into a gate, and in 2016 the American Statistical Association warned against treating it as one.
Quick check
Why can a random sample of 1,000 represent millions?
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