A result unlikely to be due to chance alone, per a chosen probability threshold.
A finding is 'statistically significant' if the probability of observing it (or something more extreme) under the null hypothesis is below a pre-set threshold, conventionally p<0.05. It says nothing about the size or clinical importance of an effect, and with large samples trivial differences can reach significance while meaningful effects can miss it in small samples. Always interpret alongside effect size, confidence intervals, and clinical relevance.
This guide was auto-drafted and is pending editorial review.