Math 1030 Project

Magnets & Pain Relief Name . Rebekah Wilkins .

Date . 04/02/2019 .

Compare the mean, range, and distribution (graphing both a double histogram using relative
frequency and box plots) of the pretest for the active magnet group and the placebo group.

Active Magnets: mean =. 9.6 . Placebo: mean =. 9.5 .

range =. 2 . range =. 3 .

Tell why you think the groups appear to be similar or different in a complete sentence.

Both the active magnet and the placebo pretest groups are similar in the fact that they have a
pretty close average. Both groups have reported high levels of pain.
Compare the mean, range, and distribution (using both histograms and box plots) of the post-test
for the active magnet group and the placebo group.

Active Magnets: mean =. 4.4 . Placebo: mean =. 8.4 .

range =. 10 . range =. 6 .

Tell why you think the groups appear to be similar or different in a complete sentence.

These two groups appear to be different due to the broad numbers from pain being reported. The
placebo group’s post-test has higher reports of pain with no one reporting any pain below 4.
Whereas, the Active Groups results have lower reports of pain with the majority of the patients
reporting either 2 or 4.
Calculate the “pain relief,” i.e. the change between the initial pain and that reported after
the treatment. Explain how you calculated the difference and what the numbers mean. Compare
the mean, range, and distribution (using both histograms and box plots) of the change for the
active magnet group and the placebo group.

Active Magnets: mean =. 4.4 . Placebo: mean =. 8.4 .

range =. 10 . range =. 6 .

Tell why you think the groups appear to be similar or different in a complete
sentence.

These two groups differ in the fact that their average pain change is very different. The active
group has higher reports of a decrease in pain whereas the placebo groups have many who
reported no change in pain. The highest amount of change in the placebo group was 5. In the
active group, they had many who reported a complete turnover from 10 to 0.
Type a one paragraph essay reflecting how these statistics either support, refute, or are
irrelevant to the claim that magnets can help relieve some types of pain and attach to this
document Discuss the limits for which the data can be used and why you think this is, or is
not, a good study.

After analyzing the results of this experiment, those who were given the magnet had a

high decrease in their reported pain. When looking at the post-test for those who were given the

placebo, it was made clear that their pain had barely even budged. The validity of this test is

mainly sourced around the fact that it was a double-blind study. None of the 50 testers were

aware of whether they were receiving the active or inactive device until the end of the

experiment. Therefore, the results of this study can sway those looking at it to believe that

magnets do relieve pain. However, there are a few external factors that can create discrepancies

within the experiment. The first issue that appeared to me when looking at this experiment is

pain tolerance. Pain varies from person to person. A person can scrape their knee and be in so

much pain they can barely walk, while another can scrape their knee the same way and act as

though nothing happened to them. Another issue relating to this is the severity of their arthritis or

muscular pain. There are some who have more pain depending on the severity of their arthritis. I

think that to enhance this study, they should pick a larger sample size and maybe test other

trigger points where the patients are also experiencing pain.