When psychologists say that their results are statistically significant, they mean that the results: A. have important practical applications. B. have important implications for scientific theory. C. are unlikely to be due to the fluctuations of chance. D. are all of the above.

Short Answer

Expert verified
Answer: It means that their findings are unlikely to be due to the fluctuations of chance.

Step by step solution

01

Understand Statistical Significance

Statistical significance is a measure used by researchers to help determine if the results of an experiment or study are likely to be due to an actual relationship between the variables being studied and not just due to random chance. In other words, if the results are statistically significant, it means that the probability of obtaining such results by chance alone is very low.
02

Evaluate Each Option

A. have important practical applications: Statistical significance doesn't necessarily indicate that the results have practical importance. It could be a small, significant effect that doesn't have practical implications. B. have important implications for scientific theory: While statistically significant results may support or refute a scientific theory, significance alone doesn't imply that they have a direct theoretical impact. C. are unlikely to be due to the fluctuations of chance: This option correctly describes the concept of statistical significance. If results are statistically significant, it means that the findings are unlikely to be due to random chance. D. are all of the above: As we evaluated each option and determined that only option C is correct, option D is not correct.
03

Choose the Correct Answer

Based on our evaluation of each option, the correct answer is option C: "are unlikely to be due to the fluctuations of chance."

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

The problem of experimenter bias can be avoided by: A. not informing subjects of the hypothesis of the experiment. B. telling the subjects that there are no "right" or "wrong" answers. C. using a research strategy in which neither subjects nor experimenter know which subjects are in the experimental and control groups. D. having the experimenter use only nonverbal signals when communicating with the subjects.

A tentative prediction about the relationship between two variables is: A. a confounding of variables. B. an operational definition. C. a theory. D. a hypothesis.

A researcher wants to see whether a protein-enriched diet will enhance the maze-running performance of rats. One group of rats are fed the high-protein diet for the duration of the study; the other group continues to receive ordinary rat chow. In this experiment, the diet fed to the two groups of rats is the _____________ variable. A. correlated B. control C. dependent D. independent

Researchers must describe the actions that will be taken to measure or control each variable in their studies. In other words, they must: A. provide operational definitions of their variables. B. decide if their studies will be experimental or correlational. C. use statistics to summarize their findings. D. decide how many subjects should participate in their studies.

Sampling bias exists when: A. the sample is representative of the population. B. the sample is not representative of the population. C. two variables are confounded. D. the effect of the independent variable can't be isolated.

See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Psychology Textbooks

View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free