A journal article that deals with changes in religious beliefs over time states, “For these subjects, the difference in their responses on the scale of religiosity between age 16 and the current survey was statistically significant (P-value 6 0.05).”
a. How would you explain to someone who has never taken a statistics course what it means for the result to be “statistically significant” with a P-value 6 0.05?
b. Explain why it would have been more informative if the authors provided the actual P-value rather than merely indicating that it is below 0.05.
c. Can you conclude that a practically important change in religiosity has occurred between age 16 and the time of the current survey? Why or why not?