A randomized trial of clinically obese women examined the efficacy and safely of a partial meal replacement diet using nutritionally fortified meal-replacement shakes. Fourteen clinically obese women received the nutritional shakes and healthy diet counseling during their pregnancy. Another nine clinically obese women only received healthy diet counseling (control). Among the meal-replacement group, two women had preterm deliveries (i.e., before 37 weeks' gestation), while none in the control group did.
(a) Does the use of the meal-replacement shakes cause excessive risk of preterm birth? Fisher's exact test with a directional alternative gives a P-value of 0.3597. Interpret the conclusions of this test.
(b) Given the results above, do the results provide compelling evidence that the meal-replacements arc safe with respect to causing preterm birth?
(c) Provide an argument for why a directional test could be preferred over a non directional test given the context of this research
(d) Provide an argument for why a non directional test could be preferred over a directional test given the context of this research