Dr. Brown conducts an experiment to examine the effects of mentorship programs on children's academic achievement. She finds that children who are given mentors receive significantly higher grades than children who are not. The result is statistically significant at the .05 level. What does this mean?
A) The finding probably occurred by chance; mentorship programs probably DO NOT really improve academic achievement.
B) The finding probably did NOT occur by chance; mentorship programs probably DO boost academic achievement.
C) The finding was larger than expected; mentorship programs appear to be even more effective than Dr. Brown suspected.
D) The finding was smaller than expected; mentorship programs appear to be less effective than Dr. Brown suspected.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A significance level of .05 means that there is a 5% chance that the result occurred by chance. Since the result is statistically significant at this level, it is likely that the effect of mentorship programs on academic achievement is real and not due to chance. Therefore, choice B is the best answer. Choices C and D are not necessarily true based solely on this result, as we do not have information on the magnitude of the effect to compare it to Dr. Brown's expectations. Choice A is incorrect, as a statistically significant result supports the hypothesis that mentorship programs improve academic achievement.

Dr Brown Conducts an Experiment to Examine the Effects of Mentorship