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Psychology vocabulary · Research Methods and Statistics

Statistical significance

Meaning in psychology, with examples

nounCommon term

In psychology, statistical significance means: A sign that a result would be unlikely if there were really no effect, usually judged by whether the p-value falls below a set level such as .05.

In Turkish: istatistiksel anlamlılık

How it is used

Reported in results sections: 'the difference was statistically significant, p = .003'. Many journals now also ask for effect sizes and confidence intervals, because significance alone says nothing about how large or important an effect is.

Example sentences

  1. The difference between the groups did not reach statistical significance.

  2. With very large samples, even tiny effects can be statistically significant.

Common collocations

  • reach statistical significance
  • statistically significant difference
  • level of significance
  • p-value
  • effect sizeA number that shows how large a difference or relationship is, independent of sample size, such as Cohen's d or a correlation coefficient.
  • hypothesisA clear, testable prediction about the relationship between variables, usually based on a theory or earlier findings, that a study is designed to check.
  • sampleThe group of people actually studied in research, chosen from a larger population so that the results can, ideally, be generalised to it.
  • correlationA statistical relationship in which two variables change together, in the same direction (positive) or in opposite directions (negative), without showing which causes which.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Research Methods and Statistics

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