Question

How do you interpret a p-value in the context of a word problem? Please provide a few examples!

Answer 1

p-value.

p-values are used to measure the evidence in favour or against the null hypothesis. That is, p-value is the measure that how much evidence we have against the null hypothesis. The smaller the p-value, gteater the evidence against the null hypothesis. One can reject the null hypothesis when the p-value falls below a certain value (significance level).

If the p-value is less than significance level, we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is a significant difference between the variables.

If the p-value is greater than significance level, we do not reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is no significant difference between the variables.

Example:

1) Suppose that a hypertension study produces a p-value of 0.052. The level of significance for this paticular study is 0.05. Since the p-value(0.052) > significance level (0.05), we do not reject the null hypothesis.

2) Suppose a vaccine study produces a p-value of 0.0085. We want to test the effectiveness of this paticular vaccine under 0.01 level of significance. Siince the p-value (0.0085) < significance level (0.01), we may reject the null hypothesis.

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