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Chapter 1: Problem 8

Exercise 1.2 introduced a study exploring the effect of antibiotic treatment for acute sinusitis. Study participants either received either a 10-day course of an antibiotic (treatment) or a placebo similar in appearance and taste (control). At the end of the 10-day period, patients were asked if they experienced improvement in symptoms. What are the explanatory and response variables in this study?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Explanatory variable: type of treatment; Response variable: improvement in symptoms.

Step by step solution

01

Understand the Study Context

In this study, researchers want to investigate the effect of an antibiotic treatment on patients with acute sinusitis. Participants are divided into two groups: one receives the antibiotic treatment, while the other receives a placebo.
02

Identify the Explanatory Variable

The explanatory variable is the variable that is manipulated or changed in an experiment to observe its effect. In this study, the explanatory variable is the type of treatment administered to the participants (antibiotic or placebo).
03

Identify the Response Variable

The response variable is the outcome that is measured after the explanatory variable is applied. In this study, the response variable is the improvement in symptoms reported by patients after the 10-day treatment period.

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Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

Acute Sinusitis
Acute sinusitis is a common condition defined by the inflammation of the sinuses. This normally happens due to infections caused by viruses, bacteria, or allergens. The onset is usually rapid, and symptoms can include blocked nasal passages, headaches, facial pain, and thick nasal discharge. The term "acute" suggests that the symptoms are temporary and usually last less than four weeks.
  • Acute sinusitis is typically self-diagnosed, but a doctor's evaluation may be necessary if symptoms persist.
  • Treatments often involve rest, hydration, and over-the-counter medications to relieve pain and nasal congestion.
  • Understanding the causes of sinusitis can help in managing and preventing the condition effectively.
It's crucial to recognize the difference between acute and chronic sinusitis, as chronic cases last longer and might require different treatment approaches.
Antibiotic Treatment
Antibiotics are medications used to treat bacterial infections by killing or inhibiting the growth of bacteria. In the context of acute sinusitis, antibiotics may be prescribed if the condition is suspected or confirmed to be bacterial. However, not all cases of acute sinusitis require antibiotics, because they are ineffective against viral infections.
  • The decision to use antibiotics should be based on symptoms, severity, and duration.
  • Antibiotics can lead to side effects, such as upset stomach, diarrhea, and allergic reactions.
  • It's important to complete the full course of antibiotics even if symptoms improve before finishing the medication.
Misuse of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic resistance, where bacteria become resistant to the effects of the drugs that once killed them.
Placebo Control
In clinical studies, a placebo control is used to test the effectiveness of a new treatment. It serves as a baseline to compare the effects of the actual treatment. A placebo is typically a harmless pill, medicine, or procedure with no therapeutic effect.
  • Participants receiving a placebo believe they are undergoing treatment, which helps measure the psychological effects of receiving medical care.
  • The placebo effect can sometimes lead to real improvements in symptoms, based on the participant's expectations.
  • Placebo controls help ensure that the outcomes of a study are due to the treatment itself and not other factors.
In the study of acute sinusitis, using a placebo allows researchers to see how much of the symptom improvement is actually due to antibiotics rather than other influences.
Study Design
Study design is a critical aspect of conducting scientific research. It outlines how to collect, measure, and analyze data effectively. Good study design ensures that results are reliable and valid. In the case of the acute sinusitis study, participants were divided into two groups to receive either an antibiotic or a placebo for a fair comparison.
  • Randomization is often used to assign participants to different groups, reducing selection bias.
  • Blinding, where participants do not know which treatment they receive, ensures their responses are not affected by expectations.
  • Other important elements may include sample size determination and control of confounding variables.
A well-prepared study design helps researchers draw accurate conclusions about the relationships between different variables in an experiment.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher was an English statistician, evolutionary biologist, and geneticist who worked on a data set that contained sepal length and width, and petal length and width from three species of iris flowers (setosa, versicolor and virginica). There were 50 flowers from each species in the data set. (a) How many cases were included in the data? (b) How many numerical variables are included in the data? Indicate what they are, and if they are continuous or discrete. (c) How many categorical variables are included in the data, and what are they? List the corresponding levels (categories).

A study is designed to test the effect of light level on exam performance of students. The researcher believes that light levels might have different effects on males and females, so wants to make sure both are equally represented in each treatment. The treatments are fluorescent overhead lighting, yellow overhead lighting, no overhead lighting (only desk lamps). (a) What is the response variable? (b) What is the explanatory variable? What are its levels? (c) What is the blocking variable? What are its levels?

You would like to conduct an experiment in class to see if students learn better if they study without any music, with music that has no lyrics (instrumental), or with music that has lyrics. Briefly outline a design for this study.

Suppose you want to estimate the percentage of videos on YouTube that are cat videos. It is impossible for you to watch all videos on YouTube so you use a random video picker to select 1000 videos for you. You find that \(2 \%\) of these videos are cat videos.Determine which of the following is an observation, a variable, a sample statistic (value calculated based on the observed sample), or a population parameter. (a) Percentage of all videos on YouTube that are cat videos. (b) \(2 \%\). (c) A video in your sample. (d) Whether or not a video is a cat video.

A researcher is interested in the effects of exercise on mental health and he proposes the following study: Use stratified random sampling to ensure representative proportions of \(18-30,31-40\) and \(41-55\) year olds from the population. Next, randomly assign half the subjects from each age group to exercise twice a week, and instruct the rest not to exercise. Conduct a mental health exam at the beginning and at the end of the study, and compare the results. (a) What type of study is this? (b) What are the treatment and control groups in this study? (c) Does this study make use of blocking? If so, what is the blocking variable? (d) Does this study make use of blinding? (e) Comment on whether or not the results of the study can be used to establish a causal relationship between exercise and mental health, and indicate whether or not the conclusions can be generalized to the population at large. (f) Suppose you are given the task of determining if this proposed study should get funding. Would you have any reservations about the study proposal?
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