A seven-year medical research study reported that women whose mothers took the drug
DES during pregnancy were twice as likely to develop tissue abnormalities that might lead
to cancer as were women whose mothers did not take the drug.
a. This study involved the comparison of two populations. What were the populations?
b. Do you suppose the data were obtained in a survey or an experiment?
c. For the population of women whose mothers took the drug DES during pregnancy, a
sample of 3980 women showed 63 developed tissue abnormalities that might lead
to cancer. Provide a descriptive statistic that could be used to estimate the number of
women out of 1000 in this population who have tissue abnormalities.
d. For the population of women whose mothers did not take the drug DES during pregnancy,
what is the estimate of the number of women out of 1000 who would be
expected to have tissue abnormalities?
e. Medical studies often use a relatively large sample (in this case, 3980). Why?