Homework #1 Statistical Concepts

BIO/BTEC180 Biostatistics

Name:___Richard Beck
MiraCosta College

Example 1: Dolphin Therapy?

1. Why did the researchers include a comparison group in this study? Why didnt they just
see how many patients showed substantial improvement when given the dolphin therapy?
T
The comparison group acts as a control. They are given as a reference value to compare
for your null hypothesis. If there was no group to compare against it would be impossible to tell
if they got better because of the dolphins
or some other external influence.
2. Why do you think patients with mild to moderate depression only were allowed to
participate?
It could be dangerous for patients with extreme depression to be that far ourside of thier
surroundings or be weaned off medication.
3. Do you think the age range is important?
The age range is important. For it to be more significant it should be focused on narrower
age range to tell if the
results only impact certain groups. For instance perhaps the
unresponsive people in the sudy were only old or
only young. It would be impossible to well
without a smaller age range.
4. Why the random assignment when they got to the island?
They were randomized to prevent bias from influencing the results of the study.
Randomizing helps make sure the results are accurate and only because of the experimental
infleunce.
5. Do the data appear to support the claim that dolphin therapy is effective? A useful first
step is to calculate the proportion who improved in each group. Calculate these
proportions. Did the dolphin therapy group have a higher proportion who showed
substantial improvement than the control group?
Dolphin group= 10 / 15 had improvement (67% Improvement) Control= 3/12 showed
improvement (25%
Improvement)
Yes the dolphin group had higher proportions of improvement 67% vs 25%. The data
appears to support the
idea that the dolphin group has greater improvement.
6. How would you describe the results of the simulation? That is, how would you describe
what the results looked like. Think about the shape, where its centered, how spread out
the data is. Draw a picture if it helps.
The simulation showed that the probablility of having a random improvement similar to
the results was not improbable and likely happened as a result of random chance rather
than the result of a significant improvement. The P value of the simulation did not show
significance and did not disprove the null hypothesis. The graph showed a bell curve
shape with the data centered between the points of 4 and 9. It tapered quickly off on both
extremes.

Example 2: Contagious Yawns?

1. Do the data appear to support the claim that yawns are contagious?
The data from the small smaple size shows that it has a slightly higher proportion of yawns
than the control group.
2. Calculate the proportion of yawners for each group. Did the yawn seed group have a
higher proportion of yawners, as compared to the control group?
Seed group = 10/34 yawned = 29% Control group = 4/16 = 25
Yes, the seed group had a slightly higher proportion of yawns compared to the control.
3. Is it possible that yawning is not contagious, and random assignment alone is responsible
for the observed difference in proportions of yawners between the two groups? (This is
what The Skeptic would say.)
Yes, it is possible and likely that the seed groups higher proportion was due only to
random assignment rather than a significant effect.
4. What were the results of the in-class re-sampling simulation?
The results in resampling were that the effect of the seed yawning was not significant and
did not discprove the null hypothesis. The seed yawning group did not exhibit a significant
ammount of yawning compared to the control group (p=0.51).
Example 3: Leaning While Kissing?
1. Based on the in-class re-sampling simulation results, would you conclude that the
researchers data (8 of 12 couples leaning to the right) provides strong evidence that
couples really do tend to the lean to the right more often than the left? Explain the
reasoning behind your answer.
I would not conclude that there is enough evidence to say that couples tend to lean to the
right more than the left. The difference between the two groups is small and the sample
size is small. The experiement does not have enough pwer.
2. Based on the second re-sampling results, would you conclude that the researchers data
Histogram of Dolphin Improvers
Normal
3000

Mean
StDev
N

2715 2652

2500

6.505
1.383
10000

Frequency

2000
1623

1614

1500
1000
560

574

500
0

117

121

4
6
8
Dolphin Improvers

10

16

12

(80 of 124 couples leaning to the right) provides strong evidence that couples in general
really do tend to the lean to the right more often than the left?
Yes the second re-sampling results show significance to the experimental hypothesis
(p=0.0009) that couples are more inclined to lean to the right when they are kissing.

3. Why do we get such different results if the proportion (about 2 out of 3) of people leaning
to the right is the same?
The results of the the two experiments are so different, even though they have the same
proprotion, is because the second sample size was much bigger than the first. This gives
the second experiment much more power and less probablity that the results were due to
random probability.
Example 4: EPO for Neuropathy
1. Whats a clinical trial? What are the phases?
2. What two characteristics of a medicinal therapy do companies need to demonstrate to get
FDA approval?
3. With respect to the question above, what can we conclude about EPO for the treatment of
peripheral neuropathy?
Example 5: EPO for tissue protection following CABG
1. Explain why the difference in proportions favoring the treatment is basically the same as
in the EPO trial for neuropathy and yet we come to very different conclusions. For
example, in the first trial, there was a 23 percentage difference favoring the treatment
and, in the CABG trial, there was 21 percentage difference favoring the treatment.