interpret

[eunkum]

[FONT=&quot]Does the following paragraph make sense? For example, is the use of "interpreted" after "Bates" right? I need to include Bates's interpretation after his findings.

Bates (2008)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] found that adolescents aging out of foster care were not more likely to experience mental health problems than their peers. [/FONT]The findings were not significant since the p-value was greater than .05. Bates (2008) interpreted that the findings were not significant because there was no significant difference between adolescents aging out of foster care and their peers.

 

[Tarheel]

The word that should go there is decided.

 

[teechar]

Bates (2008) [STRIKE]interpreted[/STRIKE] concluded that the findings were not significant because there was no [STRIKE]significant[/STRIKE] major difference between adolescents aging out of foster care and their peers.

You could use "decided" (as Tarheel has suggested) instead of "concluded" and "notable" instead of "major." ;-)

 

[Raymott]

No, if a scientific finding is "not statistically significant", then the hypothesis has not been supported. This is a fact, not an interpretation. (It's a statistical interpretation, but not an interpretation of the findings.) A scientific interpretation of the findings would involve suggestions about why there was no difference.