Professor Wallace Studied Over 3,000 Elderly Individuals for a Decade

Multiple Choice

Professor Wallace studied over 3,000 elderly individuals for a decade and found a statistically significant relationship between survival rate and number of close friends. Specifically, he found that elderly individuals with few close friends had a much higher death rate. To say that the results of his study are "statistically significant" means that:

A) the finding has great practical value and significance.
B) there is a cause-and-effect relationship between the two variables.
C) the finding does not have to be replicated to be accepted by the scientific community.
D) the results are unlikely to have occurred by chance.