The alternative hypothesis is that there is a meaningful difference in percent compliance between the two treatments in the target population. Reported a large difference of 26% between the two treatments. The hypothesis test is designed to help determine if a 26% difference is so large and the resulting p value of 0.015 so small that we should reject H 0.įirst and foremost, a p value is simply a probability. However, it is a conditional probability, in that its calculation is based on an assumption (condition) that H 0 is true. This is the most critical concept to keep in mind as it means that one cannot infer from the p value whether H 0 is true or false. ![]() More specifically, after we assume H 0 is true, the p value only gives us the probability that, simply owing to the chance selection of patients from the larger (target) population, the clinical experiment resulted in a difference in the samples, as large or larger, than the actual 26% observed. If a resulting small p value suggests that chance was not responsible for the observed difference of 26% and the randomization of patients, as in this case, makes the presence of bias unlikely, then the most likely conclusion is that in the target population the treatments must produce different compliance results.
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