Suppose the number of babies born each hour at a hospital follows a Poisson distribution with a mean of 3. Some people believe that the presence of a full moon increases the number of births that
Take place. Suppose during the presence of a full moon, the hospital experienced eight consecutive
Hours with more than four births each hour. Based on this fact, comment on the belief that the full
Moon increases the number of births.
A)The belief is not supported as the probability of observing this many births is 0.00000137.
B)The belief is supported as the probability of observing this many births would be 0.185.
C)The belief is not supported as the probability of observing this many births is 0.185.
D)The belief is supported as the probability of observing this many births would be 0.00000137.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The belief is supported because the probability of observing more than four births each hour for eight consecutive hours under the assumption of a Poisson distribution with a mean of 3 is extremely low (0.00000137). This suggests that such an event is highly unlikely to occur by chance, thus supporting the belief that the full moon could influence the number of births.

Suppose the Number of Babies Born Each Hour at a Hospital