statistical significance

[noun]

Statistical significance provides a measure of the statistical probability for a result to have occurred and quantifies the likelihood that a result occurred by chance. Statistical significance does not define whether a difference or relationship is large or small, nor does it speak to the practical significance of an occurrence. The significance level (α) is reported as a percentage (10%, 5%, 1% ?), where the lower the level, the higher the probability that an occurrence was not due to chance. For more information, see the module Statistics in Science.