Researchers wanted to see whether children who take the drug levodroprophizine recover better from cough than children who take other cough syrups. The individuals were 161 children who visited one of four doctors from February 1, 2010, to April 30, 2010, for an acute cough. The doctors prescribed levodroprophizine to 101 children and other cough syrups to the other 60 children. Parents completed a questionnaire about the frequency and intensity of their children’s cough before taking one of the drugs. Six days later, the parents completed the questionnaire again. The researchers concluded that the children who took levodroprophizine recovered better from cough than the children who took other cough syrups.
a. The title of the journal article says the study is observational. Why does that make sense?
b. Explain why it would be unethical to use a placebo in this study.
c. Describe the sample and the population.
d. What is the conclusion of the study? Does this mean there is causality or only an association between the two variables? Explain.
e. In the journal article, two of the researchers report that they are employees of the company that manufactures levodroprophizine. Why is it important that this is stated in the article?