Question

A study done at the Center for Disease at a certain university tracked 18,169 asymptomatic patients with a certain disease who started therapy at different points in the progression of the infection. It was discovered that asymptomatic patients who postponed antiretroviral treatment until their disease was more advanced faced a higher risk of dying than those who had initiated drug treatment earlier.

1. Consider an experiment designed to determine the effectiveness of a new drug. The drug is given to participants in the treatment group, while participants in the control group receive a placebo. For the set of results described, discuss whether there appears to be evidence that the treatment is effective. 87% of those in the treatment group showed improvement; 34% of those in the placebo group showed improvement. Is there good evidence that the treatment is effective?
2. Consider an experiment designed to determine the effectiveness of a new drug. The drug is given to participants in the treatment group, while participants in the control group receive a placebo. For the set of results described, discuss whether there appears to be evidence that the treatment is effective. 78% of those in the treatment group showed improvement; 35% of those in the placebo group showed improvement. Is there good evidence that the treatment is effective?
3. To determine her blood sugar level, Denise divides up her day into three parts: morning, afternoon, and evening. She then measures her blood sugar level 3 at randomly selected times during each part of the day. What type of sampling is used?  

Answer 1

a)  An experiment designed to determine the effectiveness of a new drug. The drug is given to participants in the treatment group, while participants in the control group receive a placebo. 87% of those in the treatment group showed improvement; 34% of those in the placebo group showed improvement. According to ethics of clinical trials the treatment is effective.

b) An experiment designed to determine the effectiveness of a new drug. The drug is given to participants in the treatment group, while participants in the control group receive a placebo. 78% of those in the treatment group showed improvement; 35% of those in the placebo group showed improvement. According to ethics of clinical trials the treatment is effective.

c) To determine her blood sugar level, Denise divides up her day into three parts: morning, afternoon, and evening. She then measures her blood sugar level 3 at randomly selected times during each part of the day. In this case stratified sampling is used because we can make 3 strata like morning, afternoon, and evening and then we can test the blood sugar level.