Question

3. Read the brief newspaper article on using a depression pill to help smokers quit.

Depression Pill Seems To Help Smokers Quit: Boston –Taking an anti-depression medicine appears to double smokers’ chances of kicking the habit, a study found. The Food and Drug Administration approved the marketing of this medicine called Zyban or bupropion, to help smokers in May. The results of several studies with the drug, including one publishing in today’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, were then made public. The newly published study was conducted on 615 volunteers who wanted to give up smoking and were not outwardly depressed. They took either Zyban or a placebo pill for 6 weeks. A year later, 23 percent of those getting Zyban were still off cigarettes, compared with 12 percent in the comparison group.

The results of this experiment were significant at the significance level. In your opinion, are the results practically significant? Justify your position.

Answer 1