What is the meaning of the term "significantly" in "significantly fewer heart attacks"?

Can aspirin help prevent heart attacks? The Physicians' Health Study, a large medical experiment involving 22,000 male physicians, attempted to answer this question. One group of about 11,000 physicians took an aspirin every second day, while the rest took a placebo. After several years, the study found that subjects in the aspirin group had significantly fewer heart attacks than subjects in the placebo group.

What is the meaning of the term "significantly" in "significantly fewer heart attacks"?



A.
It means "definitely occurred by chance if there was no difference between the aspirin and placebo groups."
B.
It means "likely to have occurred by chance if there was no difference between the aspirin and placebo groups."
C.
It means "definitely could not have occurred by chance if there was no difference between the aspirin and placebo groups."
D.
It means "unlikely to have occurred by chance if there was no difference between the aspirin and placebo groups."


Answer: D.
It means "unlikely to have occurred by chance if there was no difference between the aspirin and placebo groups."



Learn More :