Statistics
Activity:
What is a p-value?
Posted on Jan 28, 2010
Topic: Inferential Statistics
Students interpret a p-value in given contexts as the relative frequency for sample statistic values at least as extreme as that from the observed sample, assuming that the null hypothesis is true.
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Activity Key Steps:
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In this activity, students will generate an observed outcome (a sample of fixed size), which determines a p-value. That value is represented by a shaded region in the sampling distribution. They then will generate additional samples of the same size from the hypothesized population and observe where the means of these samples fall.
From the graph of the simulated sampling distribution of sample means that were generated, students estimate the likelihood of getting by chance an outcome at least as extreme as the original observed sample mean if the hypothesis is true.
By the end of the activity, students should understand the connection between a p-value and the null hypothesis. Also, they will understand for sample means giving p-values less than 0.5, increasing the sample size decreases the p-value.