Observational as well as Experimental Study Designs
A research published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Aug 2001) suggests that it's dangerous to enter a hospital on a weekend. Throughout a 10-year period researchers tracked over four million emergency admissions to hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Their findings exposed that patients admitted on weekends had a much higher risk of death than those who went to the emergency room on weekdays.
1) The researchers said the alteration in death rates was 'statistically significant'. Elucidate in this context what that means.
2) What kind of study was this? describe.
3) If you think you're quite ill on Saturday must you wait until Monday to seek medical help? describe.
4) Suggest few possible explanations for this troubling finding.