The Pre-Historic Development of Agriculture Is an Active Area of Research

question 9

Essay

The pre-historic development of agriculture is an active area of research amonganthropologists. The transition from a hunter-gatherer society to an agriculturalsociety is generally assumed to be signaled by an increase in cavities in teeth.Investigators recently studied teeth unearthed in two societies in Colorado:Basketmakers, societies living in small villages, and Post-Basketmakers, societiesliving in above-ground architectures such as pueblos. The investigators wereinterested in whether the shift in shelter was associated with a shift in consumptionfrom hunting (meat) to agriculture (maize). Data on the numbers of individuals withinterproximal (between teeth) cavities are shown in the table below. Inter-proximalcavities tend to occur more among populations subsisting primarily on agriculturalproducts. You may assume that it is reasonable to regard these two samples asrepresentative of teeth from these two populations.
a) Construct and interpret a 90% confidence interval for the difference in populationproportions of individuals with interproximal cavities, Basketmaker - Post-Basketmaker.
b) Interpret the 90% confidence level
c) Based on your results in parts (a) and (b), would you say that a shift inconsumption patterns is a reasonable conclusion on the part of the investigators?
Justify your response with statistical evidence from parts (a) and/or (b).

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Definitions:

Psychological Induction

A method or process in psychology to influence or bring about certain mental states or behaviors in individuals through suggestion, experiences, or the presentation of stimuli.

Methodological Induction

Methodological Induction refers to a research approach that involves deriving general principles from specific observations or experiments.

Spontaneous Induction

A process in physics where a change in magnetic flux induces an electromotive force or current in a closed loop without any applied external voltage.

Selective Attention

The process by which the brain focuses on specific information while ignoring other stimuli.