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Based on the definition of practical significance, what should a clinician conclude about the usefulness of recommending this mindfulness app for everyday practice?
Case context: A team of researchers conducts a massive study with participants to evaluate a new, time-consuming mindfulness app. They find that users of the app report a decrease in daily anxiety of points on a -point scale compared to a control group. The researchers report that this difference is statistically significant.
Question: Based on the definition of practical significance, what should a clinician conclude about the usefulness of recommending this mindfulness app for everyday practice?
Sample answer: The clinician should conclude that the app lacks practical significance. Although the finding is statistically significant, a 0.2-point decrease on a 200-point scale is a trivial effect. It is too weak to have any meaningful impact on a patient's everyday life, meaning the time-consuming app is likely not useful in real-world practice.
Key points:
- Identifies that the finding lacks practical significance.
- Explains that the 0.2-point decrease is a trivial or weak effect.
- Concludes the app lacks meaningful impact or usefulness in everyday life despite being statistically significant.
Rubric: The student must demonstrate comprehension by recognizing that the statistically significant result has a trivial effect size and therefore lacks real-world importance or usefulness.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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