Are these RH measurements different?

Measurement 1

Measurement 2

Decision support

Is the difference meaningful for conservation practice, and is there statistical evidence for it?

Practical significance

Is the difference large compared to measurement uncertainty?

Statistical evidence (Welch test)

Is there evidence the two means are genuinely different?

About this tool

At first sight, the question seems simple: Are these two RH measurements different?

In practice, this can mean two different things.

1. Is there evidence that the environments are genuinely different?

This is a statistical question. The tool uses Welch's t-test to assess whether the observed difference could plausibly arise from normal variation in the measurements.

2. Is the difference large enough to matter?

This is a practical question. Even if a difference is statistically detectable, it may be small compared with measurement uncertainty and therefore of limited importance for conservation decisions.

Why show both?

A difference can be statistically significant but too small to be practically important. Equally, a potentially important difference may not reach statistical significance if only a small amount of data is available.

For this reason, the tool reports both:

  • Practical significance — is the difference large relative to uncertainty?
  • Statistical evidence — is there evidence that the difference is real?

The overall interpretation combines these two perspectives to support conservation decision-making.