Question: Surgery and germs. Joseph Lister (for whom Listerine is named!) was a British physician who was interested in the role of bacteria in human infections. He suspected that germs were involved in transmitting infection, so he tried using carbolic acid as an operating room disinfectant. In 75 amputations, he used carbolic acid 40 times. Of the 40 amputations using carbolic acid, 34 of the patients lived. Of the 35 amputations without carbolic acid, 19 patients lived. The question of interest is whether carbolic acid is effective in increasing the chances of surviving an amputation.
a) What kind of a study is this?
b) What do you conclude? Support your conclusion by testing an appropriate hypothesis.
c) What reservations do you have about the design of the study?