Evaluate the Following Generalization(s), Identifying Sample, Population, Attribute of Interest

question 72

Essay

Evaluate the following generalization(s), identifying sample, population, attribute of interest, and the extent to which the claims involved are knowable. Consider carefully the size and diversification of the sample and the extent to which the population differs or may differ from the sample; remember, what's important is that the sample be representative.
According to a study published by Dr. William P. Newman III of Louisiana State University Medical Center in the New England Journal of Medicine, physicians in Bogalusa, Louisiana, conducted autopsies on thirty-five youngsters ranging in age from seven to twenty-four (the average age was eighteen) who had died mostly from accidents, homicides, or suicides. They found that all but six of the young people had fatty streaks on their aortas, the body's main artery. Fatty streaks are the earliest gross recognizable lesions of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), according to Newman. Since there was a direct link between the number of fatty streaks and the cholesterol levels in the young people, Newman recommended that all schoolchildren be checked for high cholesterol levels.

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Definitions:

Individual Variation

Differences in physical, behavioral, or physiological characteristics among members of the same species.

Charles Darwin

A 19th-century naturalist and biologist known for his theory of evolution by natural selection, fundamentally changing the understanding of the biological world.

Gregor Mendel

A scientist often referred to as the "Father of Genetics" for his pioneering work on the inheritance patterns in pea plants.

Natural Selection

Differential success in the reproduction of different phenotypes resulting from the interaction of organisms with their environment.