A researcher found a significant result using a one-way ANOVA to compare the mean of four age groups (3 years old, 5 years old, 8 years old, and 12 years old) on a test of language ability.What specific conclusions can the researcher draw from this result?
A) The 12-year-olds scored higher on a test of language ability than the 3-, 5-, and 8-year-olds did.
B) Language ability of 3-, 5-, 8-, and 12-year-olds was not the same.
C) Language ability of 3-, 5-, 8-, and 12-year-olds did not differ.
D) On a test of language ability, 3-year-olds scored lower than 5-, 8-, and 12-year-olds did.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Since the ANOVA returned a significant result, we can conclude that the means of at least two of the age groups are different. Therefore, we can conclude that language ability of 3-, 5-, 8-, and 12-year-olds was not the same. However, we cannot make a specific conclusion about which group(s) scored higher or lower without additional post-hoc analyses.

A Researcher Found a Significant Result Using a One-Way ANOVA