Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/iii/paper-33/5/b/iv/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 33 5 b iv Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The original PDF's age smooth is nearly flat, its uncertainty band includes zero across the age range, and its approximate p-value is . The exposure smooth is increasing and convex: it is fairly flat at low exposure and rises more steeply at high exposure. Its effective degrees of freedom suggest a modest departure from a straight line, rather than a highly oscillatory relationship.
A suitable simpler model is therefore the grouped quasibinomial regressionwith age omitted and dispersion estimated. A positive quadratic coefficient captures the convex exposure relationship; retaining the linear term respects the usual polynomial hierarchy. This model should be refitted, rather than assigning coefficients from the smooth plot. Compare its residual pattern and dispersion-adjusted fit with the additive model to check that the quadratic approximation is adequate. An exposure-only quadratic logit model is a justified parsimonious candidate, while the graph does not justify a sharp threshold or a zero-dispersion model.
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