Very Large Random Samples of Catholics, Protestants, and People with No

Multiple Choice

Very large random samples of Catholics, Protestants, and people with no religious affiliation have been questioned about their opinions on capital punishment. On a ten point scale, the Protestants average 6.9, the Catholics averaged 7.0, and people with no religious affiliation averaged 7.1. These differences were tested by ANOVA and found to be statistically significant. What is the most reasonable conclusion?

A) This is a statistically significant and important difference
B) This difference may be statistically significant but it seems unimportant
C) This difference is due to random chance
D) The researcher should have used sample means rather than proportions in this situation