What is a p-value? An expert explains the most misunderstood number in science

By Kyle Hewitt, Neuroscientist and Associate Lecturer specialising in neuropsychopharmacology, University of Wollongong

If you’ve ever tried to read a scientific paper, you’ve almost certainly run into a p-value. And if you found it confusing, you’re in good company: plenty of working scientists misunderstand it too.

The p-value is a number measuring the “statistical significance” of an experiment, and it’s often treated as the adjudicator of whether the experiment really found something or not. It decides whether researchers get to say that a drug did something, or that one group differed from another.

Careers,…

Read complete article

~	Play is essential for young children, including when it comes to their learning

~	No, the Supreme Court didn’t declare unilingual Canadians ‘inferior’

~	Beatrix Potter was obsessed with fungi – and she was quite the naturalist

~	As mayor, Andy Burnham’s climate record was strong – this city knowledge is key to decarbonising the UK

~	Why women should strength train at every stage of life

~	Impact of climate change may be equivalent to 3.3 million years of transformations in tropical vegetation

~	After a decade leading the ACTU, what is the legacy of Sally McManus and Michele O'Neil?

~	Falling birth rates mean schools are closing – affecting whole communities

~	The unasked question in the Epstein case: Were any victims stateless?

~	Ben Carroll is the new Victorian premier. He has a long and urgent to-do list – and 4 months until an election