Biostatistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Biostatistics - Essay Example 2012, p. 772). Here, the P value is greater than 0.05, and yet the authors say that the differences were not significant. However, the statement means that the evidence presented in the case was not strong enough to consider that the means were different. i. Number of pregnancies is discrete or discontinuous variable. This is because for the subjects to be included in the study they had to be pregnant. Pregnancy takes a distinct value because one is either pregnant or not. ii. Clinical attachment loss (CAL) measured in [whole] millimetres (mm) is a continuous variable because it is a mean of the distances from the cento enamel junction and the center of the pocket. The distances can take on any numerical values hence are continuous variable. a) Mean of maternal age of women with preeclampsia in the sample is a true reflection of the population. This is because the sample mean age and standard deviation are equal to the population mean age and standard deviation. This shows that the population is normally distributed and is in line with some of the assumptions that are prerequisites for accurate statistics (Lomax 2007). b) The most likely maternal age of a woman with preeclampsia drawn at random is 28.5 years. This is because in a normal distribution, the mean, mode, and the median are the same value (Lomax 2007). If the mean of the population is 28.5 years, it implies that the mode and median are also 28.5 years. Therefore, there are high chances that a woman drawn at random from the population is 28.5 years, which is the mode of the population. c) It is expected that 95% of the population lie between the age of 19.5 and 37.5 years. The empirical rule states that in a normal distribution, almost all values lie within 3 standard deviations of the mean (Grafarend 2006). About 68% lie within one standard deviation, 95% within two standard deviations, and 99% within three standard deviations. It follows that 95% of the population lie