Question

A team of researchers has developed a new drug to treat atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema. They want to know if this new drug procedures better results than a commonly prescribed older drug. The side effects of the two drugs are equivalent. The new drug would be more expensive to produce compared to the older drug. To address their research question, they will randomly assign patients to either the new or old drug. Each patient will be examined by an independent physician (i.e., not a member of the research team) before and after 90 days of using their assigned drug. The physician will not know which patients are in each group. The physician will measure the change in symptoms using a quantitative measure that takes into account the area of skin affected and the severity of the condition.

A. What does a Type I error mean in this situation? What are the consequences of making a Type I error here?

B. What does a Type II error mean in this situation? What are the consequences of making a Type II error here?

C. In this scenario, is a Type I or Type II error more serious? Or, are they equally serious? Explain your reasoning.

D. If you were working with this research team, what alpha level would you use? Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1