Final answer:
A p-value of .03 in an ANOVA test indicates there is a 3% chance of obtaining an F-statistic as large or larger than the computed one if the null hypothesis is true, leading to potentially rejecting the null hypothesis if the p-value is less than a pre-determined significance level.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a researcher conducting an ANOVA obtains a p-value of .03, it means that there is a 3% chance of obtaining an F-statistic as large or larger than the one computed if the null hypothesis is true.
This is because p-values in the context of ANOVA are used to determine whether the observed differences among sample means are significant, or if they could have occurred by random chance. Therefore, the correct interpretation of a p-value of .03 is option 4) "obtaining an F-statistic as large or larger than the one computed".
In practice, if the p-value is less than the significance level (commonly set at 0.05 or 0.01), the null hypothesis is rejected in favor of the alternative hypothesis, indicating that at least one of the group means is significantly different.