Do you think you smell? If you falsely believe you emit an unpleasant, foul, or offensive body odor, you may suffer from olfactory reference syndrome (ORS). The disorder disables patients, who often isolate themselves and consider suicide. Psychiatrists disagree over how prevalent ORS is in the human population. Depression and Anxiety (June 2010) discussed one self-reported survey of 2,481 university students in Japan. The study reported that 52 of the students were “concerned with emitting a strange bodily odor.”
a. Use the survey results to estimate the true proportion of all people in the world who suffer from ORS. Place 95% confidence bounds around the estimate and interpret the result.
b. Give several reasons why the inference, part a, may be invalid. Explain.