The University of Zambia
School of Public Health
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Principles of Biostatistics Assignment II
EHS 4120 / BPH 2130 / HPE 3610 / HSM 2410
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Answer all questions and indicate the answers to each question clearly
2. Copying from one another will result in complete loss of marks
3. The solutions to the assignment should be HANDWRITTEN (NOT TYPED!) and
submitted as a SOFT COPY (scanned copy)
4. Indicate your student ID and the respective course code on the cover page
5. All assignments should be submitted through respective class representatives
6. All assignments should be submitted by midnight on Friday 15th August 2025.
7. Late submissions will not be accepted
Question 1
In a study by Wang et al., researchers examined bone strength. They collected 9 cadaveric femurs
from subjects in three age groups: young (19–49 years), middle-aged (50–69 years), and elderly
(70 years or older). One of the outcome measures (W) was the force in Newtons required to fracture
the bone. The following table shows the data for the three age groups.
Young (Y) Middle-aged (MA) Elderly (E)
193.6 125.4 59.0
137.5 126.5 87.2
122.0 115.9 84.4
145.4 98.8 78.1
117.0 94.3 51.9
105.4 99.9 57.1
99.9 83.3 54.7
74.0 72.8 78.6
74.4 83.5 53.7
a) Given that the data do not come from normally distributed populations and have unequal
variance, state the appropriate non-parametric statistical test for this analysis.
a) State the null and alternative hypotheses for this study.
b) Using a statistical test mentioned in (a) and an 𝛼 = 0.05, test the null hypothesis of no
difference between the groups using the test statistic as your measure of statistical
evidence.
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Question 2
Researchers wished to see if the average birthweight of newborn male infants was different
between mothers who took alcohol during pregnancy and those who did not. They selected a
random sample of 10 male infants from non-drinkers and a random sample of 8 male infants from
drinkers. The results are shown in the Table below.
Birthweight
Non-drinkers Drinkers
4111 2557
4153 2594
2622 2600
3062 2636
2778 2551
2750 2663
2836 2767
2877 2807
3090
3076
b) Given that the data do not come from normally distributed populations, state the
appropriate non-parametric statistical test for this analysis.
c) State the appropriate hypotheses for this study.
d) Using the statistical test mentioned in (a) above, conduct this analysis at 5% level of
significance using the test statistic as your measure of statistical evidence.
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Question 3
Researchers examined gallbladder function before and after surgery in patients with
gastroesophageal reflux disease. They measured gallbladder functionality by calculating the
gallbladder ejection fraction before and after surgery. The data are shown in the table below. We
wish to know if these data provide sufficient evidence to allow us to conclude that surgery
increases gallbladder functioning.
Pre-operative 22 63.3 96 9.2 3.1 50 33 69 64 18.8 10
Post-operative 63.5 91.5 59 37.8 10.1 19.6 41 87.8 86 55 88
a) Given that the differences between the groups do not follow a normal distribution, state the
appropriate non-parametric statistical test for this analysis.
b) State the appropriate hypotheses for this study.
c) Conduct this analysis using the statistical test mentioned in (a) at a 95% confidence level
using the test statistic as a measure of statistical evidence.
Question 4
Researchers studied the characteristics of undergraduate students at the University of Zambia. One
of the variables collected was the intelligence quotient (IQ) score of the students. The researchers
wondered whether the average IQ of these students could be greater than 90. They obtained a
random sample of 12 students at the university and measured their IQ using a standard scale—
recorded below.
IQ score: 131, 120, 90, 98, 29, 133, 80, 149, 94, 140, 88, 133
a) What non-parametric statistical test would be appropriate to answer the researcher’s
question?
b) State the possible null and alternative hypotheses in this study.
c) Using the statistical test stated in (a) above, determine if these data provide sufficient.
evidence for us to conclude that the IQ of the students is greater than 90 at 5% significance
level.
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Question 5
Researchers studied the characteristics of patients attending at a health facility. They wondered
whether there could be a correlation between age of patients and their systolic blood pressure
(SBP). They obtained a random sample of 20 patients and obtained their age at last birthday and
measured their SBP. The results are shown below.
Patient Age (X) SBP (Y)
1 20 120
2 43 128
3 63 141
4 26 126
5 53 134
6 31 128
7 58 136
8 46 132
9 58 140
10 70 144
11 46 128
12 53 136
13 60 146
14 20 124
15 63 143
16 43 130
17 26 124
18 19 121
19 31 126
20 23 123
a) State the appropriate parametric statistical test for this analysis.
b) State the appropriate hypotheses for this study.
c) Calculate the correlation coefficient using the statistical test stated in (a) above and
interpret its value.
d) Calculate the coefficient of determination and interpret its value.
END!!....
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