Near Death Experiences Exercise 2.21 on page 56 describes a study of the prevalence of near-death experiences. A near-death experience includes the sensation of seeing a bright light or feeling separated from one’s body or sensing time speeding up or slowing down, and sometimes is experienced by people who have a brush with death. Researchers interviewed 1595 people admitted to a hospital cardiac care unit during a recent 30-month period. Patients were classified as cardiac arrest patients (in which the heart briefly stops after beating unusually quickly) or patients suffering other serious heart problems (such as heart attacks). The study found that 27 individuals reported having had a near-death experience, including 11 of the 116 cardiac arrest patients.

(a) What proportion of cardiac arrest patients in the sample reported near-death experiences? What proportion of other heart patients reported them?

(b) Test, at a 5% level, to see if cardiac arrest patients are more likely to have a near-death experience than other heart patients.

Exercise 2.21

Near-Death Experiences People who have a brush with death occasionally report experiencing a near-death experience, which includes the sensation of seeing a bright light or feeling separated from one’s body or sensing time speeding up or slowing down. Researchers14 interviewed 1595 people admitted to a hospital cardiac care unit during a recent 30-month period. Patients were classified as cardiac arrest patients (in which the heart briefly stops after beating unusually quickly) or patients suffering other serious heart problems (such as heart attacks). The study found that 27 individuals reported having had a near-death experience, including 11 of the 116 cardiac arrest patients. Make a two-way table of these data. Compute the appropriate percentages to compare the rate of near death experiences between the two groups. Describe the results.