What does a p-value less than 0.05 typically signify in research?

A p-value less than 0.05 is commonly interpreted as indicative of a statistically significant result in research. This significance level suggests that the observed data would be unlikely to occur if the null hypothesis were true, which posits that there is no effect or no difference between groups or variables being studied. When researchers achieve a p-value below this threshold, they often reject the null hypothesis, providing evidence that the findings are not due to random chance, and thus, suggest a potential effect or relationship exists.

In many scientific disciplines, the convention of using 0.05 as a cutoff has become standard, allowing for a shared understanding when interpreting research findings. This threshold does not measure the strength of a relationship or the size of an effect; it merely indicates that the results are statistically significant. As a result, further examination, including effect sizes and confidence intervals, is often needed to fully understand the implications of the findings.