Bio Adaptive Quiz 1

All articles published in scientific journals have been peer-reviewed.

False

Two types of very low frequency radiation are:

radiowaves and microwaves

List these forms of radiation in order from highest energy to lowest energy.

x-rays, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, microwaves, and radio waves

Which of these is NOT an example of recall bias?

A patient with brain cancer may be more likely to recall childhood memories.

An informal observation that has not been systematically tested is:

anecdotal evidence.

Which statement is false regarding epidemiological studies?

Epidemiological studies are considered unethical because they often harm participants.

A news report states that smokers are more likely to develop brain tumors. This confirms that smoking leads to the development of brain cancer.

False

Which statement is a pitfall for making decisions from a single epidemiological study?

Complexity of a disease makes it unlikely that every variable can be controlled for, small sample sizes can influence the accuracy of results, and the specific population in the study may not be representative of the general population.

A group of friends are watching the nightly news and see a segment on a study evaluating deaths in people taking a new cholesterol-lowering drug. The study reports that 60% of all people taking this drug experience serious side effects, such as liver damage, stroke, or death. What question is NOT important to ask about this study to determine its impact?

Did the affected people recover from the liver damage and/or strokes they experienced?

What does it mean when an experimental result is said to be "statistically significant?"

Mathematical tests demonstrate that the result is unlikely to have occurred on its own.

A drug is designed to block fat absorption from the diet in order to promote weight loss. This drug also makes people nauseous if taken in the morning. If people lose weight while taking this drug, is it definitely due to reduced fat absorption?

No, because the weight loss could be due to lower food intake as a result of the nausea, people who are trying to lose weight may exercise more, and people who are trying to lose weight may eat less anyway.

This is an illustration demonstrating the influence of different sample sizes. Is the smallest sample size an accurate depiction of the results?

No, the smallest sample size produced inconsistent results.

A team of journalists has decided to take a survey asking a group of 100 people whether herbal supplements help to alleviate symptoms of depression. The survey asks participants about their own personal experiences with herbal supplements. Would the results of the journalists' survey be considered "reliable" and prove that herbal supplements either alleviate or have no effect on symptoms of depression?

No. The survey carried out by these journalists relies on anecdotal evidence, and as such would not be considered "reliable" when evaluating hypotheses regarding herbal supplements and depression.

Melanoma rates are higher in areas of the United States with a high number of sunny days each year. Melanoma rates have been observed to decrease in some countries in response to public health campaigns that promote regular use of sunscreen. Other types of skin cancer, which are similar to melanoma, are linked to UV exposure. Based on this information, what is the MOST comprehensive hypothesis that can be generated?

People who use sunscreen have lower rates of skin cancer in general.

A person's friend is reading a newspaper article, which notes that, in rats, a positive significant relationship exists between sugar consumption and obesity. The more sugar a rat consumes, the higher its overall body mass. This person's friend asks what it means that the results of this experiment were statistically significant. How should this person answer the question?

The fact that rats that consume more sugar have higher body masses is not due to chance.

In the study conducted by scientists at the National Toxicology Program, control rats did not live as long as experimental rats, which made the results hard to interpret.

True

A statistically significant result from a scientific study is indicative of:

a nonrandom result.

A correlation in a scientific study indicates:

a possible link between two variables

In which type of study would one have the MOST confidence?

a randomized clinical trial with 10,000 rats

Which type of study would be BEST to evaluate the impact of cell phone use?

a randomized clinical trial with a control group and an experimental group

A scientific paper has demonstrated that a correlation exists between the occurrence of breast cancer and alcohol consumption in Japanese women. A journalist reads this paper and writes an article on alcohol consumption and breast cancer. To remain true to the original scientific paper, the journalist should state that a correlation exists between:

alcohol consumption and breast cancer in Japanese women.

In a study designed to test whether cell phone radiation increases the incidence of brain cancer, which of these is the experimental group?

animals treated with cell phone radiation

A scientific theory is closest to an everyday _____.

b) fact

Researchers are hoping to determine the efficacy of a new drug that (supposedly) reduces cholesterol in patients. To this end, they carry out a randomized clinical trial, where one group of subjects receives the cholesterol drug and the other group receives a placebo. Researchers then periodically measure the cholesterol levels in individuals from both of these groups. In this scenario, _____ would be considered the dependent variable.

cholesterol levels in subjects

A researcher wants to develop a randomized clinical trial that will determine the relationship between an aspirin regimen and heart health. To this end, he decides he will have two groups of patients―one that receives a baby aspirin daily, and one that receives a placebo daily. In this scenario, the group of individuals that receives the placebo is the _____ group, and the group that receives the baby aspirin is the _____ group.

control; experimental

Which of these may be used as a placebo in an experiment designed to test whether caffeinated coffee improves memory?

decaffeinated coffee

A study was conducted to investigate if the use of SPF30 sunscreen lotion is a more effective skin cancer prevention measure than SPF15 sunscreen lotion. The study involved comparing a group of roofers who had developed skin cancer to a group of roofers without skin cancer and assessing their use of sunscreen lotions. This is an example of a(n):

epidemiological case-control study.

The headline shown in "Today's News" is an example of:

hyped language

This figure shows data from an experiment that examined the contribution of cell phone use to the development of brain cancer. What is the dependent variable?

incidence of brain cancer

A researcher has submitted a paper assessing the relationship between ibuprofen and ulcers. Much to his dismay, the journal responds to his paper by stating that—based on the comments of reviewers—it does not feel that it can publish the manuscript. The researcher's paper has been rejected as a result of the _____ process.

peer-review

Data that agree with a hypothesis are said to _____ the hypothesis.

support