What does "statistical significance" indicate?

Statistical significance indicates that the observed results are unlikely to have occurred by chance, suggesting that there is a meaningful effect or difference present in the data. This concept is crucial in research as it helps to determine whether the findings can be generalized beyond the sample used in the study. When researchers calculate statistical significance, often through p-values, they assess the probability of observing the data if the null hypothesis were true. A commonly used threshold to denote statistical significance is a p-value less than 0.05, which implies that there is less than a 5% probability that the observed results happened by chance. Thus, when results reach statistical significance, researchers can have greater confidence in the reliability and importance of their findings.