Vitamin C (ascorbate) boosts the human immune system and is effective in preventing a variety of illnesses. In a study by E. Cameron and L. Pauling titled "Supplemental Ascorbate in the Supportive Treatment of Cancer: Reevaluation of Prolongation of Survival Times in Terminal Human Cancer" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Vol. 75, No. 9, pp. 4538-4542), patients in advanced stages of cancer were given a vitamin C supplement. Patients were grouped according to the organ affected by cancer: stomach, bronchus, colon, ovary, or breast. The study yielded the survival times, in days, given on the WeissStats CD.
a. Use the technology of your choice to obtain boxplots for the data sets, using the same scale.
b. Compare the data sets by using your results from part (a), paying special attention to center and variation.