Question

Use the following information to answer the next seven exercises: Studies are often done by pharmaceutical companies to determine the effectiveness of a treatment program. Suppose that a new AIDS antibody drug is currently under study. It is given to patients once the AIDS symptoms have revealed themselves. Of interest is the average (mean) length of time in months patients live once starting the treatment. Two researchers each follow a different set of 40 AIDS patients from the start of treatment until their deaths. The following data (in months) are collected.

Researcher A: 3; 4; 11; 15; 16; 17; 22; 44; 37; 16; 14; 24; 25; 15; 26; 27; 33; 29; 35; 44; 13; 21; 22; 10; 12; 8; 40; 32; 26; 27; 31; 34; 29; 17; 8; 24; 18; 47; 33; 34

Researcher B: 3; 14; 11; 5; 16; 17; 28; 41; 31; 18; 14; 14; 26; 25; 21; 22; 31; 2; 35; 44; 23; 21; 21; 16; 12; 18; 41; 22; 16; 25; 33; 34; 29; 13; 18; 24; 23; 42; 33; 29

Can you tell if one researcher is correct and the other one is incorrect? Why?

Short answer

No, we won't be able to make a decision because we don't have enough information to do so.

Step-by-step solution

Concept Introduction

The raw information obtained from the population of interest is referred to as data in statistics. The collection and validity of this data are dependent on various factors.

Explanation

It is given that the data that has been collected by researchers A and B. Also, it is given that the two researchers will track two groups of 40 AIDS patients to see how long they live on average from the moment they begin treatment to the time they die. There is no other information regarding how the two researchers collect data that can assist us to determine if one researcher is correct and the other is incorrect. As a result, we are unable to make a judgment since we lack sufficient information to do so.

Final answer

No, we lack sufficient data to claim the correctness of the data provided.