Chapter 9.1, Problem 24BB

Yawning and Fisher’s Exact Test In one segment of the TV series MythBusters, an experiment was conducted to test the common belief that people are more likely to yawn when they see others yawning. In one group, 34 subjects were exposed to yawning, and 10 of them yawned. In another group, 16 subjects were not exposed to yawning, and 4 of them yawned. We want to test the belief that people are more likely to yawn when they are exposed to yawning.

a. Why can’t we test the claim using the methods of this section?

b. If we ignore the requirements and use the methods of this section, what is the P-value? How does it compare to the P-value of 0.5128 that would be obtained by using Fisher’s exact test?

c. Comment on the conclusion of the Mythbusters segment that yawning is contagious.