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The problem we are given reads exactly as follows: Determine whether the followi

ID: 22311 • Letter: T

Question

The problem we are given reads exactly as follows: Determine whether the following set of data represent a population that is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (use Chi squared analysis if necessary):
Sickle cell hemoglobin: AA, 75.6%, AS 24.2%, and SS 0.2%.

I know how to determine allele frequency, and expected values based on HWE formula, as well as how to do Chi squared analysis, but what I am not sure about is that we are only given percentages in this problem and no absolute number for the population size in question. I therefore am not sure what numbers to plug into my Chi squared analysis. For example if the observed for AA is 75.6% and the expected based on my calculation is 76.9%, do I assume this is out of 100 people and use the numbers 75.6 and 76.9 respectively to do my analysis?

Explanation / Answer

Yes, you can just assume it is out of 100 people. Since they are both percentages, as long as you chose a common denominator (100 is obviously the easiest) it would work out the same.