Please read the following narrative and answer the following questions:
Researchers compared urinary bacteria levels of elderly women who drank 10 ounces of a juice drink containing cranberry juice each day to elderly women who consumed the same amount of a look-alike drink without cranberry juice (indistinguishable in taste, appearance, and vitamin C content from cranberry juice). 153 elderly women participated in this study. Each one was randomly assigned to the cranberry juice group or the placebo group and was followed over a 6-month period. The women had a mean age of 78.5 years and high levels of bacteria in their urine at the start of the study. The odds in the cranberry group of having bacteria levels exceeding a certain threshold were 42% of what they were in the control group.
What can you conclude, based on this research, about cranberry juice and urinary tract bacteria?
The lead researcher is quoted as saying “This is the first demonstration that cranberry juice can reduce the presence of bacteria in the urine in humans.” This implies that the results apply to all humans and is a bit of an overgeneralization of the results. What is a more appropriate conclusion, based on this study?
