显著性分析是数理统计科学贡献给其他学科的一个重要工具。显著性分析的设计功能是“推测”，即，从样本推测母本，也就是估算样本中的差别不存在于母本中的几率 (p 值)。但是，多年来，在社会科学的实践中，研究者经常把显著性分析用于另外三个功能，即“证实”、“预筛”、“分类”。

Statistical significance test, one of the most important contributions of mathematical statistics, was designed for projection, namely to project from a sample to its population, by estimating the probability (p) that a difference observed in a probability sample does not exist in the population from which the sample has been drawn. In social sciences, however, researchers have used the significance tests for three other functions, namely proof, prescreen, and prototyping.