A pharmaceutical company develops a new generation of blood pressure medication that may also help with cholesterol. The research and development department advertises in the local papers and online for volunteers who already take blood pressure medication to participate in a study for the new medication. Two hundred people volunteer, and their current blood pressure along with their cholesterol levels are measured. The first 100 volunteers are assigned to the new generation of blood pressure medication, and the next 100 are assigned to the original medication. At the end of the study, the subjects’ blood pressures and cholesterol levels are measured. The group with the new medication is found to have significantly lower overall blood pressure than the original medication group. It was also determined that the new medication did not significantly lower cholesterol levels.
Answer
A
Inferences can be made about all blood pressure patients, and the conclusion can be made that the new medication lowers blood pressure more effectively than the original medication for patients taking blood pressure medication.
B
Inferences can be made about all blood pressure patients, and the conclusion cannot be made that the new medication lowers blood pressure more effectively than the original medication for patients taking blood pressure medication.
C
Inferences cannot be made about all blood pressure patients, and the conclusion can be made that the new medication lowers blood pressure more effectively than the original medication for patients taking blood pressure medication.
D
Inferences cannot be made about all blood pressure patients, and the conclusion cannot be made that the new medication lowers blood pressure more effectively than the original medication for patients taking blood pressure medication.
Explanation
The volunteers were not randomly selected from all people with high blood pressure, so their results cannot reliably be generalized to every blood pressure patient. Also, treatment was assigned by order of volunteering rather than randomly, so differences between the two groups could have other causes. The study therefore cannot establish that the new medication lowers blood pressure more effectively than the original medication.
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