Assignment 1
Uploaded by
Yumnah FredericksAssignment 1
Uploaded by
Yumnah FredericksBIOSTATISTICS (BTS100S)
Assignment: [93 Marks]
Deadline: 15th May 2025
Question 1: [14Marks]
A biologist gathers leaves of a certain plant in order to collect insects of a particular type.
From past experience she knows that the distribution of the number of insects on 500 leaves
varies according to a distribution that is approximately normal with a mean of 35 insects and
standard deviation of 15 insects. Use the normal distribution to determine the following:
a) Calculate the probability that the number of insects on the next leaf to be examined
will be between 6 and 12 (both inclusive). [4]
b) It is also known that if the number of insects on a leaf exceeds 45 then the leaf will
turn to die. Calculate the probability and estimate the number of leaves that will be
affected. [4]
c) If 5 % of the leaves died out by containing x amount of insects or more, estimate the
value of x . [4]
Question 2: Select the correct answer [8 marks, 2 for each]
1. Poor precision in scientific measurement may arise from:
a) the standard being too strict.
b) human error.
c) limitations of the measuring instrument.
d) both human error and the limitations of the measuring instrument
e) All of the above
2. Precision pertains to all of the following except
a) reproducibility of measurements.
b) agreement among numerical values.
c) sameness of measurements.
d) closeness of a measurement to an accepted value.
e) None of the above
3. Michael buys several bags of balloons. On the package, it says that each bag has 100
balloons. He opens the bags and only one of them has 100 balloons inside; the other
bags either have too many or too few. How would you describe the bag of balloons
with 100 balloons inside?
a) Accurate, but the precision cannot be determined.
b) Accurate, but not precise.
c) Precise, but not accurate.
d) Neither accurate nor precise.
e) Both accurate and precise
4. A brand of fruit snacks claims that each bag of fruit snacks has a mass of 25.5g. After
weighing three bags, Wally observes the masses to be 25.5g, 25.6g, and 26.1g. How
can Wally describe the accuracy and precision of the first bag he measured?
a) There are insufficient data points to draw a conclusion.
b) Accurate, but not precise.
c) Precise, but not accurate.
d) Accurate and precise.
e) Neither accurate nor precise.
Question 3: [10 Marks]
A study found that the number of serious gastrointestinal reactions reported to the British
Committee on Safety of Medicine was 538 for 9,160,000 prescriptions of the anti-
inflammatory drug piroxicam. This corresponds to a rate of .058 gastrointestinal reactions per
1000 prescriptions written. Using a Poisson model for probability, with λ= 0.06, find the
probability of:
a) Exactly one gastrointestinal reaction in 1000 prescriptions
b) Exactly two gastrointestinal reactions in 1000 prescriptions
c) No gastrointestinal reactions in 1000 prescriptions
d) At least one gastrointestinal reaction in 1000 prescriptions
Question 4: [23 Marks]
The following table shows 1000 nursing school applicants classified according to scores
made on a college entrance examination and the quality of the high school from which they
graduated, as rated by a group of educators:
Quality of High Schools
Score Poor (P) Average (A) Superior (S) Total
Low (L) 105 60 55 220
Medium (M) 70 175 145 390
High (H) 25 65 300 390
Total 200 300 500 1000
Calculate the probability that an applicant picked at random from this group:
a) Made a low score on the examination. [2]
b) Graduated from a superior high school. [2]
c) Made a low score on the examination and graduated from a superior high school. [3]
d) Made a low score on the examination given that he or she graduated from a superior
high school. [3]
e) Made a high score or graduated from a superior high school. [3]
f) Calculate the following probabilities:
i. P(A) [2]
ii. P(H) [2]
iii. P(M) [2]
iv. P(A\H) [2]
v. (H\S) [2]
vi. P(M ∩ P) [2]
Question 5: [20 Marks]
Researchers compared point-of-care and standard hospital laboratory assays for monitoring
patients receiving a single anticoagulant or a regimen consisting of a combination of
anticoagulants. In the present study, the researchers obtained measures of international
normalized ratio (INR) by assay of capillary and venous blood samples collected from 10
subjects taking warfarin. INR, used especially when patients are receiving warfarin, measures
the clotting ability of the blood. Point-of-care testing for INR was conducted with the
CoaguChek assay product. Hospital testing was done with standard hospital laboratory
assays. The authors used the hospital assay INR level to predict the CoaguChek INR level.
The measurements are given in the following table.
a) Calculate the equation of the regression line y on x and draw this line on your scatter
diagram. [6]
b) Estimate the CoaguChek INR level expected if the hospital assay INR level is 2.5 [2]
c) Calculate the correlation coefficient between the values of and interpret your results
[4]
d) Determine if a correlation exists at a 10% level of significance. [8]
Question 6: [18 Marks]
Students were investigating the effects of a growth hormone placed on the growing tip of a
maize seedling. The hormone was used in two different concentrations and distilled water
was used as a control on a third set of seedlings. After three weeks the heights of the plants
were measured to the nearest centimetre. They are shown in the table.
29 26 31 42 38
45 35 37 38 38
36 39 49 40 32
32 34 27 61 29
33 31 33 52 44
32 30 38 42 33
a) Construct a steam and leaf display for these data.[5]
b) Calculate the standard deviation of the heights of the plants. [3]
c) Use fences to identify any outliers in the data. [10]
