When asked to explain the meaning of statistically significa

When asked to explain the meaning of “statistically significant at the = 0.05 level,” a student says: “This means that the probability that the null hypothesis is true is less than 0.05.\"

Which one of these statements most correctly describes the student’s statement?

Question 4 options:

The student is correct because 5% is the most common value we compare p-values to.

The student is correct because represents the probability that a hypothesis is correct.

The student is incorrect since “statistically significant at the  = 0.05 level” really means that if H₀ were true, we would have observed outcomes that occur less than 5% of the time.

The student is incorrect. His/her answer should have been “This means that the probability that the null hypothesis is true is equal to 0.05”

Solution

(C) is correct, rest are wrong. This can be rephrased as:

The student is incorrect since “statistically significant at the  = 0.05 level” really means that if H0 were true, then probabiltiy of observing atleast as extreme sample as we did in current sample would be less than 0.05.