Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 102 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The correct denominator is the number of live deliveries , not treatment cycles and not babies. Define and use ; this is the distinction in denominators in grouped birth-outcome models. The observed conditional multiple-delivery proportion is initially and finally.
A constant logit has residual deviance on 13 degrees of freedom. A linear-year fit gives , deviance on 12 degrees of freedom (), and annual odds ratio . A quadratic term improves the deviance by on one degree of freedom (), whereas a further cubic improvement is only (). A supported parsimonious binomial model isIts residual deviance is on 11 degrees of freedom (), and Pearson statistic is , with no detected excess dispersion. The binomial standard errors are ; approximate 95% Wald confidence intervals are , , and . The annual odds multiplier is , describing near-flat early behaviour and a stronger later reduction, rather than a uniform annual decrease.
As a secondary check, modelling the triplet-or-higher share alone among deliveries needs curvature: its quadratic logit has residual deviance on 11 degrees of freedom, compared with for a straight line. Multiple delivery became less likely conditional on a live delivery, especially later in the series; higher-order multiples declined particularly strongly. This conditional probability is separate from the probability of any successful live delivery per cycle.
