Exhibit 19-1.A researcher wished to determine if there was a difference in the college aptitude examination scores of traditional and nontraditional undergraduate students.The researcher selected p = .05 as the level for rejecting the null hypothesis.The researcher obtained a mean score of 52 for nontraditional students and a mean score of 40 for the traditional students.Statistical analysis indicated that the difference in means was significant at the .05 level.
-Refer to Exhibit 19-1.How would the statistical significance be interpreted?
A) Traditional and nontraditional students are drawn from the same population in terms of college aptitude.
B) There are 5 chances in 100 that the two groups were drawn from different populations in terms of their college aptitude.
C) There are 5 chances in 100 that the two groups were drawn from the same population in terms of their college aptitude.
D) For every nontraditional student, there are 5 chances in 100 that she/he will score higher than a traditional student.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The statistical significance means that the probability of obtaining a difference in means as extreme as the observed difference, assuming the null hypothesis (no difference in population means), is only 5%. This implies that there is a 95% chance that the two groups were drawn from different populations in terms of their college aptitude. Therefore, option C correctly interprets the significance level. Options A, B, and D are incorrect.