Question: An article in USA Today (Elias, June 3, 1999, p. D1) describes a study done by Georgia State University psychologist James Dabbs in which he found that women who are trial lawyers (litigators) are more likely to have male children than are women lawyers who are not trial lawyers. According to the article, "58% of litigators' kids were boys vs. 44% [boys] for the others. The odds of this happening by chance are less than 5%, he says."
a. How much difference was there between the percentages of male children for the two types of lawyers?
b. Consider the second sentence in the quote. What statistical term describes this result?
c. The quote from the article tells us that a p-value is less than 5%. Write one sentence that describes exactly what the p-value measures in this setting.
d. Dabbs believes that the result can be attributed to the women's testosterone levels because in a previous study, he found that, on average, women litigators have higher testosterone levels than women lawyers who aren't litigators. Do you think this conclusion is justified? Explain why or why not.