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

Fewer Lyme disease cases occurred among the 9,400 subjects in the study than had been expected, causing it to fall short of one of the study’s key measures of statistical significance.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

Grail says there was a substantial increase in the number of stage-1 and 2 cancers detected in the NHS trial, but didn’t say if the increase reached statistical significance.

From The Wall Street Journal

This lone January-based indicator with statistical significance is known as the January sentiment effect.

From MarketWatch

Not one of these so-called first-impression patterns comes close to satisfying traditional criteria of statistical significance, as you can see from the chart above.

From MarketWatch