Question

8. (6) Researchers believe that human male infertility has increased significantly in recent years due to exposure to BPA and related chemicals. A recent study provided evidence for this by interviewing lab technicians at a sperm donor bank in Chicago, which purchases sperm mainly from college students from a small local college. They report that the number of donors with acceptable sperm counts (at least 15 million sperm per milliliter of semen) has declined by almost 60% since 1980. Relate the following questions to this information:

1. Define sample vs. population and explain what each would be in this study.
   • Sample is one selection from a population. Sample would be
2. Define Random Variation and explain how it could be a factor in making conclusions about sperm quality and quantity?
3. Define confounding factor, and list one potential Confounding factor in using this sample to represent the population.
4. Provide an argument for why this sample might not contain independent data points.
5. Define sampling error and discuss whether it might be occurring in this study.

Answer 1

(a) Population consists of all the elements in a set of data. Sample consists of a few units of the data. Sample is a representative of the population. It must be unbiased.

The population is all the college stuents in Chicago. Here as a samplle some students of a local college in Chicago is being chosen.

(b) Random variation: The propensity to deviate arbitrarily from the true magnitude of the parameter for the approximate magnitude of a parameter (e.g. based on the average of a set of treatment impact observations). It  is independent from the systemic biasing impacts.

The sperm which is collected by the laboratories from the college students must ensure about the adequate quantity and the quality of the sperms. If both of these factors donot match then the conclusion will be wrong. Random variation if creep in the process the approximation will lead to deviation from the true magnitude,

(c) A confounding factor is something that may be causing the findings shown in a test, other than the subject being studied. They have the ability to affect research outcomes because they can impact the findings the researchers are testing. They report that sperm count of the adults have declined by almost 60% since 1980 but what is the cause of decrease is not being answered by the technicians.

(d) The college students are the main object of study. They must be asked about what are their habits, what places they visit to know about their exposure. Only testing the sperms of the students gives clinical values, but whether the assumptions are correct or not and how the sperms can be increased cannot be given a dimension unless the college students are interviewed.

(e) Sampling error, is the mistake induced by observing a sample instead of the whole population. The sampling error is the difference between the survey statistics used to estimate a population parameter and the real, yet unknown, parameter value.

Yes it may occur in the study. All the tecnicians of all the sperm donor banks should be interviewed to come to a conclusion.The conclusion obtained from the technicians of one donor bank may have biased result. The unit of study i,e. the college students, how are they chosen is a important factor otherwise there may be sampling error in choosing them