statistical significance

Cultural  

1. In statistics, a number that expresses the probability that the result of a given experiment or study could have occurred purely by chance. This number can be a margin of error (“The results of this public opinion poll are accurate to five percent”), or it can indicate a confidence level (“If this experiment were repeated, there is a probability of ninety-five percent that our conclusions would be substantiated”).

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Example Sentences

"The statistical significance of this is not high enough to claim a detection of dark matter, and further checks should be performed by independent groups," Aurrekoetxea says.

From Science Daily • May 19, 2026

Although a high-dose combination of fianlimab and Libtayo showed improvement over Keytruda, the result didn’t reach statistical significance, Meacham noted.

From Barron's • May 18, 2026

But just a few weeks later the test’s manufacturer, Grail, announced disappointing study results: the test didn’t reach statistical significance in later-stage cancers—stages 3 and 4.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 2, 2026

In almost all cases, there were no correlations that satisfied traditional standards of statistical significance.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 20, 2025

Usually we encounter the opposite situation: the result is of potential practical significance but of almost no statistical significance.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos