Chapter 1: Q. 20 (page 49)

Use the following information to answer the next seven exercises: Studies are often done by pharmaceutical companies to determine the effectiveness of a treatment program. Suppose that a new AIDS antibody drug is currently under study. It is given to patients once the AIDS symptoms have revealed themselves. Of interest is the average (mean) length of time in months patients live once starting the treatment. Two researchers each follow a different set of 40 AIDS patients from the start of treatment until their deaths. The following data (in months) are collected.
Researcher A: 3; 4; 11; 15; 16; 17; 22; 44; 37; 16; 14; 24; 25; 15; 26; 27; 33; 29; 35; 44; 13; 21; 22; 10; 12; 8; 40; 32; 26; 27; 31; 34; 29; 17; 8; 24; 18; 47; 33; 34
Researcher B: 3; 14; 11; 5; 16; 17; 28; 41; 31; 18; 14; 14; 26; 25; 21; 22; 31; 2; 35; 44; 23; 21; 21; 16; 12; 18; 41; 22; 16; 25; 33; 34; 29; 13; 18; 24; 23; 42; 33; 29
Would you expect the data to be identical? Why or why not?

Short Answer

Expert verified

We can't expect the data to be identical because the treatments aren't identical, so the results may differ unless neither treatment has an effect.

Step by step solution

Concept Introduction

The raw information obtained from the population of interest is referred to as data in statistics. The collection and validity of this data are dependent on various factors.

Explanation

Because the treatments used by the two studies differ, the data acquired by the two researchers may not be identical. In addition, the researchers study two different groups of people. It's also possible that the researchers selected the participants for their various studies on their own. As a result, there's a good chance of getting two different sets of data from the two groups. The medication has varying effects on people of various ages. It's also impossible to find persons in both research groups who are the same age. As a result, we cannot expect the same results.