Hand-washing habits Do adults typically wash their hands

Chapter 5, Problem 5.4

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Hand-washing habits Do adults typically wash their hands aft er using the bathroom? In a telephone survey of 1001 U.S. adults, 92% said they always wash their hands aft er using a public restroom.2 An observational study of 6076 adults in public restrooms told a slightly diff erent story: only 77% of those observed actually washed their hands aft er using the restroom.3 (a) Why do you think the results of the two studies are so diff erent? (b) According to a description of the observational study, Observers discreetly watched and recorded whether or not adults using public restrooms washed their hands. Observers were instructed to groom themselves (comb their hair, put on make-up, etc.) while observing and to rotate bathrooms every hour or so to avoid counting repeat users more than once. Observers were also instructed to wash their hands no more than 10 percent of the time. Explain why these precautions were taken by the observers.