22.14 What’s a gift worth? Do people value gifts from others more highly than they value the money it would take to buy the gift? We would like to think so because we hope that “the thought counts.’’ A survey of 209 adults asked them to list three recent gifts and then asked, “Aside from any sentimental value, if, without the giver ever knowing, you could receive an amount of money instead of the gift, what is the minimum amount of money that would make you equally happy?’’ It turned out that most people would need more money than the gift cost to be equally happy. The magic words “significant (P < 0.01)’’ appear in the report of this finding.

  1. (a) The sample consisted of students and staff in a graduate program and of “members of the general public at train stations and airports in Boston and Philadelphia.’’ The report says this sample is “not ideal.’’ What’s wrong with the sample?

  2. (b) In simple language, what does it mean to say that the sample thought their gifts were worth “significantly more’’ than their actual cost?

  3. (c) Now be more specific: what does “significant (P < 0.01)’’ mean?