But suppose instead that 91 out of 100 patients receiving the new amg show marked improvement, compared with 49 out of 100 patients in control group. It is still possible that this impressive result is unrelated i the new drug; the patients in the treatment group may be particularly ixky or resilient. But that is now a much less likely explanation. In the formal 'language of statistical inference, researchers would likely conclude the ''owing: (1) If the experimental drug has no effect, we would rarely see i - amount of variation in outcomes between those who are receiving c drug and those who are taking the placebo. (2) It is therefore highly “probable that the drug has no positive effect. (3) The alternative—and ore likely—explanation for the pattern of data observed is that the “erimental drug has a positive effect.'