Final answer:
Biologically or clinically significant values refer to a normal range that indicates health status, and in research, significance is attributed to commercially or academically valuable gene products. Accurate reporting of measurements involves understanding significant digits, and research significance involves a comparison to a null model.
Step-by-step explanation:
When discussing biologically significant or clinically significant values, we refer to the normal range or spread of values around the set point of a biological variable, such as body temperature, which is considered insignificant in terms of impacting one's health. However, deviations from these "normal" values might suggest the presence of an infectious disease or blood-associated disorder. Additionally, significance in biological research implies that a gene product (protein) is of commercial or research importance. Reporting accurate measurement results in scientific practice involves identifying the significant digits that best represent the certainty of the measurement process. Not all digits contribute to a measurement's precision; for example, "leading," "trailing," and "captive" zeros can exist. Leading zeros are non-significant placeholders, trailing zeros may or may not be significant based on whether a decimal is present, and captive zeros (those between non-zero digits) are always significant. In research, establishing significance often involves comparing data to a null model to evaluate potential effects. This includes considering the possibility of Type I errors and might involve setting significance cutoff limits, as when analyzing data against a threshold probability. These processes reflect the traditional methodologies used in probability-based sciences and have been subject to calls for reform due to their subjective nature.