Case Study

Diagnose the conceptual error in the student's conclusion and explain what the pp-value of .04 actually means in this context.

Case context: A student reads a research article reporting a pp-value of .04. The student concludes that there is only a 4%4\% probability that the null hypothesis is true.

Question: Diagnose the conceptual error in the student's conclusion and explain what the pp-value of .04 actually means in this context.

Sample answer: The student has made the frequent error of misinterpreting the pp-value as the probability that the null hypothesis is true. A pp-value of .04 actually means that if the null hypothesis were true, there is a probability of .04 (or 4%4\%) of obtaining the observed sample result.

Key points:

  • Identify the student's conclusion as a frequent misinterpretation.
  • State that the pp-value does not represent the probability that the null hypothesis is true.
  • Explain that the pp-value of .04 is the probability of the sample result.
  • Specify that this probability is calculated under the assumption that the null hypothesis were true.

Rubric: Full credit requires identifying the student's error as a misinterpretation of the pp-value's meaning and providing the correct interpretation based on the sample result and the assumption that the null hypothesis is true.

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Updated 2026-05-27

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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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