Final answer:
When the difference in average salary between people with blue eyes and brown eyes is not significant, it suggests similar average salaries between these populations, indicating that eye color is not a determinant of salary.
Step-by-step explanation:
If a student determines the difference in average salary for subpopulations of people with blue eyes and people with brown eyes is not significant, then we can infer that the populations of blue-eyed people and brown-eyed people have similar average salaries. This reflects that the variance in salary within these subpopulations does not appear to be attributable to the eye color characteristic.
In statistical terminology, when we say a difference is not significant, it means that any observed difference in averages could likely be due to random chance rather than a systematic effect. This is determined using hypothesis testing where the null hypothesis - which states that there is no difference between the groups - cannot be rejected.
In various fields such as psychology, social science, and business administration, determining such differences is crucial for making informed decisions and understanding population dynamics. If we fail to find a significant difference in an adequately powered study, we may conclude that the populations compared are essentially equivalent regarding the variable of interest, in this case, average salary based on eye color.