View definitions of terms used throughout the Pathways Clearinghouse.

P

P-value

The probability that if there actually was no real effect of the intervention, a finding at least as large as the observed finding would have been obtained by chance. For example, a sample might show a positive average difference, suggesting that the intervention group has better outcomes than the comparison group, with a p-value of 0.05. The p-value means that there is a 5 percent chance that the positive finding for the intervention group occurred by chance and does not occur in the population.

Physical health services

Services to address clients’ physical health concerns. Physical health services may be an intervention’s primary service.

Primary service

An intervention’s primary service is the principal service of the intervention. The primary service is (1) a component that a large proportion of intervention group members received and a large proportion of comparison group members did not and (2) the component that was described by the study authors as most integral to the theory of change tested by the study. Interventions may provide multiple services, but only one service is designated as primary.