Chapter 4, Problem 2RSRD

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is required by law to publish a report on assisted reproductive technology (ART). ART includes all fertility treatments in which both the egg and the sperm are used. These procedures generally involve removing eggs from a woman’s ovaries, combining them with sperm in the laboratory, and returning them to the woman’s body or giving them to another woman.

You are helping to prepare the CDC report and select at random 10 ART cycles for a special review. None of the cycles resulted in a clinical pregnancy. Your manager feels it is impossible to select at random 10 ART cycles that do not result in a clinical pregnancy. Use the pie chart at the right and your knowledge of statistics to determine whether your manager is correct.

2. Answering the Question

Write an explanation that answers the question, “Is it possible to select at random 10 ART cycles that do not result in a clinical pregnancy?” Include in your explanation the appropriate probability distribution and your calculation of the probability of no clinical pregnancies in 10 ART cycles.