Question

Dr. Kim investigated the relationship between caffeine consumption and emotional intelligence. He found a p-value of 0.30, which is ABOVE the significance threshold of p= 0.05. According to the "Statistical Thinking" reading, what can he conclude about the relationship between caffeine consumption and emotional intelligence?

a) There is a significant positive relationship.
b) There is no relationship between caffeine consumption and emotional intelligence.
c) The relationship is inconclusive.
d) More data is needed to draw a conclusion.

Answer 1

With a p-value of 0.30 that exceeds the significance level alpha of 0.05, Dr. Kim must conclude that there is insufficient evidence of a significant relationship between caffeine consumption and emotional intelligence.

Step-by-step explanation:

Given that Dr. Kim's study resulted in a p-value of 0.30, which is higher than the commonly used significance threshold of alpha = 0.05, we cannot reject the null hypothesis. The significance level dictates whether or not we consider our results to provide enough evidence to support a claim about a population. In this case, since the p-value exceeds the significance threshold, Dr. Kim's conclusion would be that there is insufficient evidence to assert that there is a significant relationship between caffeine consumption and emotional intelligence.

This is reflective of examples where p-values that are greater than the alpha level lead to a decision not to reject the null hypothesis, insinuating that the results of the study do not provide strong support for a relationship.