Which characteristic does a low p-value indicate?

A low p-value indicates strong evidence to reject the null hypothesis because it suggests that the observed data is highly unlikely under the assumption that the null hypothesis is true. In hypothesis testing, the p-value quantifies the probability of obtaining results at least as extreme as those observed, given that the null hypothesis holds true. A commonly used threshold, often 0.05, indicates that if the p-value is lower than this threshold, it is reasonable to conclude that the results are statistically significant, thus prompting researchers to reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative hypothesis. This reflects a strong contradiction to the null hypothesis and supports the idea that an effect or relationship exists in the population being studied. In contrast, p-values that are higher would either indicate non-significance or less compelling evidence against the null hypothesis, which does not support the rejection of the null hypothesis.