Concept explainers
It is well known that a placebo, a fake medication or treatment, can sometimes have a positive effect just because patients often expect the medication or treatment to be helpful. The article “Beware the Nocebo Effect” (New York Times, Aug. 12, 2012) gave examples of a less familiar phenomenon, the tendency for patients informed of possible side effects to actually experience those side effects. The article cited a study reported in The Journal of Sexual Medicine in which a group of patients diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia was randomly divided into two subgroups. One subgroup of size 55 received a compound of proven efficacy along with counseling that a potential side effect of the treatment was erectile dysfunction. The other subgroup of size 52 was given the same treatment without counseling. The percentage of the no-counseling subgroup that reported one or more sexual side effects was 15.3%, whereas 43.6% of the counseling subgroup reported at least one sexual side effect. State and test the appropriate hypotheses at significance level .05 to decide whether the nocebo effect is operating here. [Note: The estimated expected number of “successes” in the no-counseling sample is a bit shy of 10, but not by enough to be of great concern (some sources use a less conservative cutoff of 5 rather than 10).]
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Chapter 9 Solutions
Probability and Statistics for Engineering and the Sciences
- What is an experiment?arrow_forwardA study was done with humans where it was found that children who were given antibiotics before they were one year old (for example, for ear infections) were more likely to be obese as adults than children who were not given antibiotics before they were one year old. Can this study be used as evidence of causality? a.yes b.noarrow_forwardDoes posting calorie content for menu items affectpeople’s choices in fast-food restaurants? According to results obtained by Elbel, Gyamfi, and Kersh(2011), the answer is no. The researchers monitoredthe calorie content of food purchases for children andadolescents in four large fast-food chains before andafter mandatory labeling began in New York City. Although most of the adolescents reported noticing thecalorie labels, apparently the labels had no effect ontheir choices. Data similar to the results obtained showan average of M = 786 calories per meal with s =85 for n =100 children and adolescents before thelabeling, compared to an average of M = 772 calorieswith s = 91 for a similar sample of n = 100 after themandatory posting.a. Use a two-tailed test with a = .05 to determinewhether the mean number of calories after theposting is significantly different than before caloriecontent was posted.b. Calculate r2to measure effect size for the mean difference.arrow_forward
- In studies examining the effect of humor on interpersonal attractions, McGee and Shevlin (2009) found that an individual’s sense of humor had a significant effect on how the individual was perceived by others. In one part of the study, female college students were given brief descriptions of a potential romantic partner. The fictitious male was described positively as being single and ambitious and having good job prospects. For one group of participants, the description also said that he had a great sense of humor. For another group, it said that he has no sense of humor. After reading the description, each participant was asked to rate the attractiveness of the man on a seven-point scale from 1 (very unattractive) to 7 (very attractive). A score of 4 indicates a neutral rating. The females who read the “great sense of humor” description gave the potential partner an average attractiveness score of M = 4.53 with a standard deviation of s = 1.04. If the sample consisted of n = 16…arrow_forwardSince this research focuses on sleep habits in college students and its effect on mental health, we have proposed the research question to be what the prevalence of college student's mental health issues are due to poor sleeping habits.Previous research has shown that anxiety and depression can be two indicators of poor sleep habits in college students (Becker et al., 2018). As mentioned before, college students are also at risk of developing poor sleep habits because, as freshmen, they transition into a more significant workload than they are accustomed to doing. They are also given more freedom with their time. So, we predict a relationship between mental health and low amounts of sleep-in students. In contrast, the alternative outcome is that there will be no mental health problems arising as students lose sleep for long periods. Since getting good sleep allows us to function better throughout our days, we will likely see the impact bad quality and quantity of sleep will have on…arrow_forwardIf there were something genetic that made people simultaneously more susceptible to both smoking and lung cancer, that would be instance of A)causation B) the placebo effect C ) confounding D) common responsearrow_forward
- In a study examining the effect of humor on interpersonal attractions, McGee and Shevlin (2009) found that a man’s sense of humor had a significant effect on how he was perceived by women. In the study, female college students were given brief descriptions of a potential romantic partner and then rated the attractiveness of the male on a scale from 1 (low) to 7 (high). The fictitious male was described positively as being single, ambitious, and having good job prospects. In one condition, the description also said that he had a great sense of humor. The results showed that the description was rated significantly higher when “a sense of humor” was included. To examine this effect further, a researcher selected a sample of n = 16 college males and asked them to read a brief description of a female and then rate the attractiveness of the woman in the description. The description had been used in previous research but was modified by adding a statement describing a good sense of humor.…arrow_forwardThe article "Americans are 'Getting the Wrong Idea' on Alcohol and Health"† reported that observational studies in recent years that have concluded that moderate drinking is associated with a reduction in the risk of heart disease may be misleading. The article refers to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that showed that moderate drinkers, as a group, tended to be better educated, wealthier, and more active than nondrinkers. Explain why the existence of these potentially confounding variables prevents drawing the conclusion that moderate drinking is the cause of reduced risk of heart disease. (Select all that apply.) Someone who is more active is more likely to avoid healthier food. Someone who is wealthier is more likely to purchase healthier food. Someone who is more active is more likely to seek out healthier food. Someone who is educated is more likely to seek out healthier food. Someone who is educated is more likely to not be aware of what…arrow_forwardThe article “Americans are ‘Getting the Wrong Idea’on Alcohol and Health” (Associated Press, April 19, 2005)reported that observational studies in recent years thathave concluded that moderate drinking is associated with a reduction in the risk of heart disease may be mis-leading. The article refers to a study conducted by theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention that showedthat moderate drinkers, as a group, tended to be better educated, wealthier, and more active than nondrinkers. Explain why the existence of these potentially con-founding factors prevent drawing the conclusion that moderate drinking is the cause of reduced risk of heartdisease.arrow_forward
- Landolt et al. (A-26) examined rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in mothers and fathers. Parents were interviewed 5 to 6 weeks after an accident or a new diagnosis of cancer or diabetes mellitus type I for their child. Twenty-eight of the 175 fathers interviewed and 43 of the 180 mothers interviewed met the criteria for current PTSD. Is there sufficient evidence for us to conclude that fathers are less likely to develop PTSD than mothers when a child is traumatized by an accident, cancer diagnosis, or diabetes diagnosis? Let alpha = 0.05arrow_forwardIn a study examining the effect of humor on interpersonal attractions, McGee and Shevlin (2009) foundthat a man’s sense of humor had a significant effect onhow he was perceived by women. In the study, femalecollege students were given brief descriptions of a potential romantic partner and then rated the attractivenessof the male on a scale from 1 (low) to 7 (high). Thefictitious male was described positively as being single,ambitious, and having good job prospects. In one condition, the description also said that he had a great senseof humor. The results showed that the description wasrated significantly higher when “a sense of humor” wasincluded. To further examine this effect, a researcherselected a sample of n = 16 college males and askedthem to read a brief description of a female and thenrate the attractiveness of the woman in the description.The description had been used in previous research butwas modified by adding a statement describing a goodsense of humor. Based on the…arrow_forwardA researcher hypothesizes that personality type is related to heart disease. Type A people, who are competitive and impatient are more prone to heart diseases. Type B people, who are more relaxed, are less likely to have heart problems. The following data about personality type and heart disorder are from a random sample. No heart disease heart disease total Type A 32 18 50 Type B 128 22 150 total 160 40 Do these data support that there is a significant relationship between personality type and heart disease? Test at the .05 level of significance. Compute the phi-coefficient to measure the strength of the relationship.arrow_forward
- Glencoe Algebra 1, Student Edition, 9780079039897...AlgebraISBN:9780079039897Author:CarterPublisher:McGraw Hill