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For example, in a simple experiment looking at the effectiveness of a new medication, study participants would berandomly assignedto one of two groups: one of these would be thecontrol groupand receive no treatment, while the other group would be theexperimental groupthat receives the treatment being studied.

The Elements of a Simple Experiment

A simple experiment is composed of several key elements:

Determining the Results of a Simple Experiment

Once the data from the simple experiment is gathered, researchers compare the results of the experimental group to those of the control group to determine if the treatment had an effect. Due to the omnipresent possibility of errors, it’s not possible to be 100 percent sure of the relationship between two variables. There can always be be unknown variables influencing the outcome of the experiment.

Despite this challenge, there are ways to determine if there most likely is a meaningful relationship between the variables. To do this, scientists use inferential statistics—a branch of science that deals with drawing inferences about a population based on measurements taken from arepresentative sampleof that population.

The key to determining if a treatment had an effect is to measure the statistical significance. Statistical significance shows that the relationship between the variables is probably not due to mere chance and that a real relationship most likely exists between the two variables.

Statistical significance is often represented like this:p < 0.05A p-value of less than .05 indicates that the results likely are due to chance and that the probability of obtaining these results would be less than 5%.

Statistical significance is often represented like this:

p < 0.05

A p-value of less than .05 indicates that the results likely are due to chance and that the probability of obtaining these results would be less than 5%.

There are a number of different means of measuring statistical significance. The one used will depend on the type of research design that was used for the experiment.

1 SourceVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Skelly AC.Probability, proof, and clinical significance.Evid Based Spine Care J. 2011;2(4):9-11. doi:10.1055/s-0031-1274751

1 Source

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Skelly AC.Probability, proof, and clinical significance.Evid Based Spine Care J. 2011;2(4):9-11. doi:10.1055/s-0031-1274751

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Skelly AC.Probability, proof, and clinical significance.Evid Based Spine Care J. 2011;2(4):9-11. doi:10.1055/s-0031-1274751

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