A group of veterinarians wants to test a new canine vaccine for Lyme disease. (Lyme disease is transmitted by the bite of an infected deer tick.) In an area that has a high incidence of Lyme disease, 100 dogs are randomly selected (with their owners’ permission) to receive the vaccine. Over a 12-month period, these dogs are periodically examined by veterinarians for symptoms of Lyme disease. At the end of 12 months, 10 of these 100 dogs are diagnosed with the disease. During the same 12-month period, 18% of the unvaccinated dogs in the area have been found to have Lyme disease. Let p be the proportion of all potential vaccinated dogs who would contract Lyme disease in this area.
a. Find a 95% confidence interval for p.
b. Does 18% lie within your confidence interval of part a? Does this suggest the vaccine might or might not be effective to some degree?
c. Write a brief critique of this experiment, pointing out anything that may have distorted the results or conclusions.