Autism and Vaccines Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Are a Range of Psychological Conditions

question 188

Multiple Choice

Autism and Vaccines
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a range of psychological conditions characterized by challenges with social interaction, behavior, speech, and nonverbal communication. While there is no general consensus among medical professionals about the underlying causes of ASD, theories range from genetic inheritance to environmental factors.
One of the most controversial theories to have emerged in recent times is that ASD could be caused by the MMR [mumps, measles, rubella] vaccine that was first developed in the 1960s. The vaccine is a mixture of three live viruses and is administered via injection to children when they are one year old. By the late 1990s, this vaccination had led to the near-eradication of measles in countries that employed widespread inoculation. However, a combination of spurious scientific data and alarmist media attention led to an entirely preventable resurgence in measles cases in the early 21^st century.
The first claims of a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism were made in 1998, when an article in The Lancet, a respected British medical journal, reported on eight cases of autism that could possibly be traced back to the administration of an MMR vaccine.
An onslaught of media coverage followed the publication of this article. The popular press quickly seized upon this story; in 2002, over 1200 articles were written about the link between MMR vaccines and ASD. Less than 30% of these articles, however, mentioned that an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence suggested that these vaccinations were completely safe.
Question: Which of the following is true according to the passage?

• A)The Lancet published an article suggesting that the Mumps, Measles, and Rubella vaccine was ineffective against the diseases it was supposed to protect children against.
• B)More than a third of the articles in the popular press cited evidence of a lack of a connection between ASD and the MMR vaccine.
• C)The popular press suggested that there was no connection between ASD and the MMR vaccine.
• D)The first link between ASD and the MMR vaccine was published in a British journal of medicine.

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Definitions:

Ordinal

Refers to data that represents categories with a meaningful order, but where the differences between the categories cannot be quantified.

Level Of Measurement

The nature of information within the values assigned to variables, which dictates the types of statistical analysis that can be performed.

Frequency Distribution

A summary of how often each value or range of values occurs in a data set.

Sample

A subset of individuals, items, or data extracted from a larger population, used for the purpose of analysis to infer conclusions about the population.