Question

a psychiatrist is studying the effect of a certain antidepressant medication on serotonin levels in the brain. the psychiatrist randomly assigns 32 of her patients to take medication and 32 patients to not take medication. at the end of one month, the psychiatrist records the serotonin levels of patients. suppose the psychiatrist correctly conducts a test of significance to determine if the serotonin levels are not equal. the test shows a statistically significant difference in average serotonin levels for the two groups of patients. what conclusion can the psychiatrist draw from these results?

Answer 1

The psychiatrist can conclude that there is a statistically significant difference in average serotonin levels between the group of patients who took the antidepressant medication and the group who did not.

Step-by-step explanation:

The psychiatrist can conclude that there is a statistically significant difference in average serotonin levels between the group of patients who took the antidepressant medication and the group of patients who did not take the medication. This suggests that the medication has an effect on serotonin levels in the brain.

To determine this, the psychiatrist conducted a test of significance, which compares the mean serotonin levels of the two groups. The test showed a statistically significant difference, meaning that the difference in average serotonin levels is unlikely to be due to chance.

It is important to note that a statistically significant difference does not necessarily mean that the medication is effective or superior to the placebo. Further research and clinical trials are needed to establish the efficacy and safety of the antidepressant medication.

Answer 2

If the psychiatrist conducted a test of significance and found a statistically significant difference in average serotonin levels between the two groups (medication and no-medication), it suggests that there is a significant effect of the antidepressant medication on serotonin levels in the brain.

The phrase "statistically significant" in this context means that the difference observed is unlikely to have occurred by random chance alone. It shows that there is evidence to reject the null hypothesis, which often states that there is no difference between the groups.

Practically, the psychiatrist can conclude that the antidepressant medication has a significant impact on serotonin levels in the brain among the studied patients. This finding supports the idea that the medication is associated with changes in serotonin levels.