Question

A medical research team conducted a study to test the effect of a cholesterol-reducing medication. At the end of the study, the researchers found that of the 4700 randomly selected subjects who took the medication, 301 died of heart disease. Of the 4300 randomly selected subjects who took a placebo, 357 died of heart disease. At a = 0.05, can you support the claim that the death rate due to heart disease is lower for those who took the medication than for those who took the placebo? (Adapted from The New England Journal of Medicine)

Sample Statistics for Cholesterol-Reducing Medication

Received medication

n1 = 4700

x1 = 301

p1 ≈ 0.0640

Received placebo

n2 = 4300

x2 = 357

p2 ≈ 0.0830

Answer 1