Mgsc 6200 Hw 1

Chapter One

6. I don’t believe that the pharmaceutical company’s financial stake in favorable results of a drug study can be defined as a potential confounding factor. From my understanding of the text a confounding factor is an important difference between the groups being compared other than the difference that we’re primarily interested in (Pekoz 14). The financial stake a pharmaceutical company has in the drug study results is a conflict of interest because they may tamper with the results or choose study participants that will present the results necessary to pass the drug, however, it’s not a factor that for certain is affecting the study participants to the point where it should be considered as a confounding factor. It is not something that directly affects the participants, but it does have ethical implications.

13. There are many factors to be considered when decided which occupation is the most and least dangerous such as age and gender of those employed, length of employment in said occupation, health of employed, recreational activities enjoyed by employed (i.e. drinking, smoking, drugs), tasks/responsibilities required of the employed based on their company, job title, position, etc. In this case a major factor at play is the number of individuals employed in a certain occupation vs. the numbers of total deaths calculated. There is larger population being considered for an occupation like driver/sales workers and truck drivers than there is for fishers and fishing workers. The best way to decipher which occupation is the most and least dangerous is by calculating a percentage of deaths relative to the population for that specific occupation. That being said from my calculations Fishers and Fishing Workers are the most dangerous occupation (12% deaths) while Construction Laborers and Miscellaneous Agricultural Workers are tied as the least dangerous (2% deaths).

15. An experimental study involves taking measurements of the system under...