A researcher identifies a .05 difference in aggression between boys and girls. What does this indicate?

Identifying a .05 difference in aggression between boys and girls suggests that there is a statistically significant difference in the levels of aggression between these two groups. In statistical analysis, a p-value of .05 is the threshold often used to determine significance. This means that there is a 5% chance that the observed difference could have occurred by random chance rather than being a true effect. Therefore, researchers typically interpret a p-value of .05 or lower as evidence that the differences observed are likely meaningful and not due to sampling variability.

This finding not only suggests that boys and girls differ in aggression but also encourages further exploration of the implications of these differences in social and behavioral contexts. Other statistical concepts mentioned, such as regression or an inverse relationship, do not apply directly to the indication of a difference observed through a p-value.