Describe the difference between the statistical and clinical significance of research findings. Explain why it is important to make a distinction between statistical and clinical significance when interpreting research findings.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Sample Answer: In psychological research, statistical significance typically means that the probability of obtaining the observed effect by chance is small. When one obtains statistical difference, is it an important difference? The difficulty is in the distinction between statistical significance (a mathematical calculation about the difference between groups) and clinical significance (whether or not the difference was meaningful for those affected). Concern for the clinical significance of results has led researchers to develop statistical methods that address not just that groups are different but also how large these differences are, or effect size. Calculating the actual statistical measures involves fairly sophisticated procedures that take into account how much each treated and untreated person in a research study improves or worsens. In other words, instead of just looking at the results of the group as a whole, individual differences are considered as well.