The paper “Serum beta-2-microglobulin (SB2M) in patients with multiple myelomatreated wi...

The paper “Serum beta-2-microglobulin (SB2M) in patients with multiple myelomatreated with alpha interferon” [Journal of Medicine (1997) 28:311–318] reports on the influence of alpha interferon administration in the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Twenty newly diagnosed patients with MM were entered into the study. The researchers randomlyassigned the 20 patients into the twogroups. Ten patients were treated with both intermittent melphalan and sumiferon (treatment group), whereas the remaining ten patients were treated only with intermittent melphalan. The SB2M levels were measured before and at days 3, 8, 15, and months 1, 3, and 6 from the start of therapy. The measurement of SB2M was performed using a radioimmunoassay method. The measurements before treatment are given here:

a. Plot the sample data for both groups using boxplots or normal probability plots.

b. Based on your findings in part (a), which procedure appears more appropriate for comparing the distributions of SB2M?

c. Is there significant evidence that there is a difference in the distribution of SB2M for the two groups?

d. Discuss the implications of your findings in part (c) on the evaluation of the influence of alpha interferon.