Probability and significance

Question 1

Why do we need inferential tasks?

Answer 1

We need to use inferential stats to see if the result we have is not due to chance i.e. it is significant OR it is due to chance and so is not significant

Question 2

Describe the process

Answer 2

• We compare our calculated value from the stats to a critical value from a stats table
• We test at the 5% level (p≤0.05).
• If we prove our hypothesis our results are significant and we can accept our alternative hypothesis and reject the null
• There will be less than a 5% chance the results are due to chance (p<0.05)
• We can then test at the 1% level (p≤0.01)
• However, if when we tested at the 5% level. The results were NOT proven i.e. they were NOT significant then we would accept the null hypothesis and reject the alternative
• Therefore, there is more than a 5% chance that the results are due to chance (p>0.05)