Question

A team of researchers have developed a new weight loss drug. They want to know if patients who use the new drug for two weeks lose any weight. The drug has some minor side effects including mild headaches and achiness. If the researchers obtain evidence of weight loss they will proceed to produce the drug commercially and sell it for a large profit. If they do not obtain evidence of weight loss they will end the project. [70 points]

What does a Type I error mean in this situation? What are the consequences of making a Type I error here?

What does a Type II error mean in this situation? What are the consequences of making a Type II error here?

In this scenario, is a Type I or Type II error more serious? Or, are they equally serious? Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

We have ,

Null hypothesis : There is no evidence of weight loss after using the drug

Alternative hypothesis : There is evidence of weight loss after using the drug

Type I error in this situation means that we say that there is evidence of weight loss after using the drug but actually usage of drug does not results into weight loss.

Consequences of making a Type I error here is that usage of drug doesnot result into weight loss and we claim that it does result into weight loss. The researchers will proceed to produce the drug commercially which has some side effects as well.

Type II error in this situation means that there is no evidence of weight loss after using the drug but actually usage of drug does result into weight loss.

Consequences of making a Type II error here is that usage of drug does result into weight loss and we claim that it does not result into weight loss. The researchers will not proceed to produce the drug commercially and will end the project.

In this scenario, Type I error is more serious because the researchers will proceed to produce the drug commercially which has some side effects as well but the drug will not help in reducing the weight. This will create a negative impact becuase people will be purchasing the drug thinking that it will reduce the weight but actually it will not result in weight loss and moreover there will be some side effects as well.