10.13 Prevalence of allergen-specific IgE antibodies in school children A study was conducted in Japan to estimate the prevalence of allergen-specific IgE antibodies in children. A group of school children between the ages of 9 and 15 years were surveyed in 2001 and in 1996 (retrospectively).

The authors of the study concluded that the percentage of positive cases for allergen-specific IgE antibodies in 2001 had increased as compared to 1996. Did the authors use the inferential methods (confidence interval, significance test)

in this section to compare the two proportions? Explain.

(Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16883099)