MATH QUESTION PLEASE ANSWER

Question

A MEDICAL COMPANY TESTED A NEW DRUG FOR POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS THE TABLE SHOWS THE RELATIVE FREQUENCY THAT A STUDY PARTICIPANT EXPERIENCED THE SIDE EFFECT

                     SIDE EFFECT          NO SIDE
ADULTS             0.07                         0.48         
KIDS                   0.22                         0.28

Do these data suggest an association between age and experiencing side effects ?
 
A.  yes a greater percent of kids experienced side effects than adults


B yes a greater percent of adults experienced side effects than kids


C  no adults were as likely to experience side effects as kids


D   no  A greater percent of both adults and kids had no side effects

Answer 1

While they don't give nearly enough information on sampling size to be credible data or how many kids vs how many adults, the simplistic answer is (A) a greater percentage of kids experienced side effects among their peers than the adults among their peers.  The sneaky thing about statistics is you can make the data say anything you want. 

Answer 2

Because fewer adults (0.07) experienced side effects than kids (0.22) with the drug,  which supports A, there does appear to be an association with age. In both cases, however, more people did NOT experience side effects (0.48 and 0.28), which supports D, but a significantly greater difference was seen in the adult population (0.07 to 0.48 versus 0.22 to 0.28), which is why A trumps D. 

 

Note: the proportions should add up to 1 altogether, and these exceed 1. Focus on where the shift is greatest.