Case Study 1

Hormone replacement therapy and its effect on cognitive performance

For more than 20 years physicians have been treating post-menopausal women with hormone replacement therapy to reduce the various ailments that accompany menopause. A statistical study had indicated that HRT not only treated effects such as hot flashes but was also beneficial in that it reduced the incidence of breast cancer and heart attacks. Unfortunately, this study was based on observational data where causal relationships cannot be substantiated. In 2003 the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) published the results of another statistical analysis, which was based on experimental data gathered by a double-blind experiment that randomly assigned women to either HRT or a placebo. The WHI study discovered that HRT actually increases the risk of breast cancer and heart disease.

Because millions of women have taken hormone replacement therapy for long periods of time, it is possible to use statistical analysis to help point the way for the investigation of other effects of HRT. To determine whether HRT helps reduce the incidence and severity of dementia (which includes Alzheimer’s disease), a random sample of women over 75 was collected. Prescription records were examined to determine HRT status. Fifty-eight users and 47 non users of HRT participated in this study. The California Verbal Learning Test and the Logical Memory Test were used to measure cognitive performance. The data were formatted as follows:

Column 1: ID

Column 2: User (1) or nonuser (2) of HRT

Column 3: California Verbal Learning Test score (out of 100)

Column 4: Logical Memory Test score (out of 100)

Do these data present sufficient evidence that HRT helps cognitive performance in women over 75?

Case Study 2

Accounting Course Exemptions

One of the problems encountered in teaching accounting in a business program is the issue of what to do with students who taken one or more accounting courses in high school. Should these students be exempted from the introductory accounting course usually offered in the first or second year of business program? Some professors have argued that high school courses do not have the breadth of depth of university courses, and that, as a consequence, high school students should not be exempted. Others think that the high school accounting course coverage is sufficiently close to that of the university course and that forcing students with high school accounting to ‘retake’ the course is a waste of time and resources.

To examine the problem, students who were enrolled in the third year of the Bachelor of Commerce program at St. Mary’s University were sampled. In the third year of this program, two introductory accounting half credits are required: ACT 241 AND ACT 242. Of the 638 students enrolled in ACT 241 in the fall semester, 374 were selected because of the similarities in their educational backgrounds (excluding high school accounting). Student files were examined for all 374 students, of whom 275 continued on to ACT 242 in the winter semester. For each student, researchers recorded the mark (out of 100) in ACT 241 and the mark in ACT 242 (if it was taken), as well as the number of high school accounting courses (either 0,1, or 2). The results were recorded as follows:

Column A, B, and C contain the marks in ACT 241 for students who have taken 0, 1 and 2 high school accounting courses, respectively. Columns D, E and F contain the marks in ACT 242 for students who have taken 0, 1 and 2 high school accounting courses, respectively.

The researchers would like to know whether students with one high school accounting course outperform those with no high school accounting and whether students with two high school accounting courses outperform those with no high school accounting.

1. What exemption policy should be adopted?
2. Write a report to the dean of the business school discussing your findings.

Price: $17.68

Solution: The downloadable solution consists of 7 pages, 1068 words.
Deliverable: Word Document