When a group is selected from a population on the basis of sharing the same percentages of trait characteristics as are known to exist in the population, then the group so selected would constitute
A) a random sample
B) a stratified sample
C) a biased sample
D) a sampling distribution

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A group selected on the basis of sharing the same percentages of trait characteristics as are known to exist in the population is a stratified sample, where the population is divided into homogenous subgroups (strata) based on a characteristic of interest, and a random sample is then chosen from each subgroup. This method is more representative and reduces sampling error compared to a simple random sample (option A), which is chosen without any stratification or characteristics in mind. A biased sample (option C) is a sample that is not representative of the population, often due to a flaw in the sample selection process. A sampling distribution (option D) illustrates the distribution of sample means of repeated samples taken from the same population.

When a Group Is Selected from a Population on the Basis