Suppose That Two Experiments Were Conducted to Compare the Effects

Essay

Suppose that two experiments were conducted to compare the effects of two new insect repellants. In Experiment X, a simple random sample was taken from the population of River City, and the citizens were randomly assigned to repellant A and repellant B. In Experiment Y, a stratified random sample was taken from the population of River City, and the citizens were randomly assigned to repellant A and repellant B. (River City has 4 geographic areas of town, the NE, NW, SE, and SW quadrants; 100 people from each quadrant were sampled for Experiment B.) The results of the experiments were the same: fewer insects landed on the arms that had been treated with insect repellant A. (a) For each experiment, X and Y, discuss whether one can legitimately infer from each of these experiments that repellant A is better than B? Why or why not? (b) For each experiment, X and Y, discuss whether one can legitimately generalize to the population of River City from each of these experiments? Why or why not?