Back to Glossary

Statistical criterion

Statistical Significance

A criterion indicating that an observed result would be sufficiently unlikely under a specified null hypothesis and decision threshold.

Related domain: Data AnalyticsConcept ID: concept-statistical-significance

Definition

Statistical Significance indicates that an observed result would be sufficiently unlikely under a specified null hypothesis to cross a chosen decision threshold.

Human Explanation

It helps assess whether an observed result is difficult to explain by random variation under the assumptions of the statistical test.

Why it Matters

It provides a consistent criterion for evaluating statistical evidence in data.

Conceptual Boundary

Statistical significance is not the same as practical, operational or business significance. It does not show that an effect is large, valuable or important, and it does not by itself prove that the tested explanation is correct.

Practical Perspective

A statistically significant result should always be interpreted together with effect size, uncertainty, data quality, study design and the context in which a decision will be made.

Related Concepts