Question 1

A newspaper reporter decided to sample residents of all major metropolitan areas in the entire country.This sampling asked if the residents liked living in their city,or are they considering moving,and if so,where? Unfortunately,this survey went over budget and was stopped,and only the east coast of the country was adequately interviewed.With regards to having this survey labeled as representing the entire country,what,if any,will be the most noticeable bias for this survey as it is now?

Accepted Answer

The survey suffers from undercoverage bias as it only samples residents of the east coast and not the entire country. This means that the survey results may not be representative of the opinions of residents in other parts of the country.

Question 2

During a provincial election,a campaign manager wishes to know how well her candidate will do in the upcoming election."Who" should be identified in the sampling frame?

Accepted Answer

The answer of During a provincial election,a campaign manager wishes...

Question 3

A cereal manufacturer randomly samples households across the country by telephone.The survey asks the consumer to explain honestly in fifty words or less why he or she likes or dislikes its brand of cereals.It is also stated that for those who participate in this telephone survey,a random drawing will be held for an all-expense paid,two-week cruise.What,if any,will be the most noticeable bias for this survey?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A cereal manufacturer randomly samples households across...

Question 4

The human resources department of a large,well-known telecommunications firm is behind schedule in writing a report about the job satisfaction of the company's employees.In an effort to quickly sample some people,the HR manager orders his subordinates to give out paper surveys "to anyone you see sitting at their desk",and the survey,completed or not,will be picked up in five minutes.Only the completed surveys will be used in the report.What sampling method best describes what this HR manager is doing?

Accepted Answer

The HR manager is using convenience sampling, which involves selecting individuals who are easily accessible or available. This method is quick and easy to perform but may not be representative of the entire population.

Question 5

Inside the boxes of a new brand of cereal,is a short survey that can be mailed back for free to the manufacturer.The survey asks the consumer if he or she likes the cereal or not.What,if any,will be the most noticeable bias for this survey?

Accepted Answer

Voluntary response bias is most likely because only those with strong opinions (positive or negative) may be motivated to respond to the survey, which does not accurately represent the entire population of consumers.

Question 6

The human resources manager of a large,well-known telecommunications firm wants to improve manager/employee relationships throughout the company.This HR manager wants to have several focus groups,each filled with randomly selected managers and employees in proportion to the company's overall manager/employee ratio.What sampling method best describes what is wanted by the HR manager?

Accepted Answer

The answer of The human resources manager of a large,well-known...

Question 7

A non-for-profit consumer agency wanted to investigate the economic and humanitarian contribution of this country's pharmaceutical companies by sampling large companies and businesses of all types.It was decided to sample the pharmaceutical companies first.After surveying the pharmaceutical companies,someone at the consumer agency wanted to distribute the data early.What,if any,will be the most noticeable bias in distributing the survey at this point in time?

Accepted Answer

The most noticeable bias would be undercoverage of the population because only pharmaceutical companies have been surveyed at this point, and businesses of all other types have not yet been included in the survey. This means the sample does not fully represent the entire population of interest, which includes businesses of all types, not just pharmaceutical companies.

Question 8

A newspaper conducted a random telephone survey during the day regarding the percentage of stay-at-home moms and dads in the typical household.What,if any,will be the most noticeable bias for this survey?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A newspaper conducted a random telephone survey...

Question 9

The human resources department of a large,well-known telecommunications firm would like to know the job satisfaction of the employees working at its company.This HR department hires an outside,impartial consultant to sample its management and its non-management employees separately.For this scenario,what is the best sampling method to use?

Accepted Answer

The best sampling method to use in this scenario is stratified sampling. Stratified sampling divides the population into different groups (in this case, management and non-management employees) and ensures that a representative sample is obtained from each group. This method allows for more accurate results because it guarantees that each subgroup in the population is represented in the sample. This approach is more effective than cluster sampling, which divides the population by location rather than by group, or convenience sampling, which selects participants based on availability without regard to representativeness. Attempted census would be too time-consuming and unnecessary for this study, while voluntary response sampling risks bias in the sample selection.

Question 10

A newspaper reporter randomly sampled households by telephone during various times of the day.The people sampled are within the area of the newspaper's distribution.The newspaper reporter asked,"Are you patriotic in a time of war or armed conflict?" What,if any,will be the most noticeable bias for this survey?

Accepted Answer

The most noticeable bias for this survey is response bias. This is because people may want to give an answer that they think the newspaper reporter wants to hear or they may be hesitant to share their true feelings about patriotism during a time of war or armed conflict. This can lead to inaccurate results and a biased sample.

Question 11

The human resources department of a large,well-known telecommunications firm is behind schedule in sampling the job satisfaction of the company's employees.In an effort to catch-up,the HR manager quickly goes down an alphabetical list of employees and e-mails a survey to every tenth employee.A neutral third party collects all surveys and ensures all of the selected employees respond to the survey.What sampling method best describes what the HR manager is doing?

Accepted Answer

The HR manager is using systematic sampling, which involves selecting every nth individual on a list or sample frame. In this case, the HR manager is selecting every tenth employee in alphabetical order. This method ensures that the sample is representative and avoids bias, as long as the list or sample frame is randomized or fairly sorted.

Question 12

A large university is comprised of several different colleges,institutes,and schools of study.These colleges,institutes,and schools are spread out throughout the city and nearby suburbs.The president of the university is curious about the average cost for a full-time,undergraduate student to attend one semester.All relevant costs to the student will be counted,including tuition,room and board,transportation,books,and so on.Tuition varies greatly within this university,and there are significant population differences among the colleges,institutes,and schools.What would be the most appropriate sampling method to use in order to estimate an average cost of attending this university for one semester?

Accepted Answer

Stratified sampling would be the most appropriate method for this scenario, as there are significant population differences among the colleges, institutes, and schools. By dividing the population into strata based on these differences, we can ensure that we have representation from each group in our sample, which will increase the accuracy of our estimate. This method also allows us to take into account the variation in tuition costs across the different colleges, institutes, and schools.

Question 13

Geologists have an interest in the structure and the history of the earth.A geologist can go back in time by drilling deep into the ground,retrieving a core sample,estimating the ages of the various layers,and examining the composition.A timeline can be built of the entire area from where the core sample was drilled.A geologist may retrieve several core samples to confirm the history of the earth's structure in that sampled area.Mountains,lakes,and unstable ground can easily impede a simple random sampling of a desired geographical area,therefore what is the most realistic sampling method that represents the actual drillings,comparisons,and scientific examinations of several core samples within the same geographical area?

Accepted Answer

Cluster sampling is the most realistic sampling method that represents the actual drillings, comparisons, and scientific examinations of several core samples within the same geographical area. This is because cluster sampling involves dividing the population into groups (clusters) and then randomly selecting a few clusters to represent the entire population. In this case, the clusters would be different geographical areas within the desired geographical area. By selecting a few clusters, the geologist can get a good representation of the entire area without having to drill in every single location.

Question 14

A Statistics instructor wishes to know the average age (in month)of his 200 students.He is too lazy to sample all 200 students so he decides to collect the ages for the first 20 students to yell out their ages.This sampling method is called a

Accepted Answer

This sampling method is a voluntary sample, as the instructor is relying on the first 20 students to voluntarily yell out their ages. This method is not representative of the entire population and is prone to bias, as students who are more likely to volunteer their age may have different ages than those who do not. A simple random sample or stratified random sample would be more representative and less biased, but the instructor did not use either of these methods. A cluster sample involves dividing the population into groups and randomly selecting groups to sample from, and a systematic random sample involves selecting every kth member of the population.

Question 15

The human resources department of a large,well-known telecommunications firm would like to know the job satisfaction of the employees working at its company,but the HR department is restricted by company policy to use only email to distribute and collect any type of employee questionnaire or survey.What sampling method is HR being forced to rely upon?

Accepted Answer

Voluntary response sampling is being used because the HR department can only distribute the survey via email, meaning only those employees who choose to respond will be included. This method relies on the willingness of participants to engage, which may not represent the entire population accurately.

Question 16

The human resources manager of a large,well-known telecommunications firm is genuinely concerned about the well-being of the company's employees.This HR manager will e-mail everyone within the company asking for suggestions in improving the health of employees working there.The manager will list specific problems that may affect an employee,including weight,smoking,and stress.For this scenario,what sampling method is being used?

Accepted Answer

The method described is voluntary response sampling because individuals choose themselves whether to respond to the email asking for suggestions, which may lead to a biased sample as those with strong opinions are more likely to respond.

Question 17

One way to minimize unanticipated measurement error from poorly worded or confusing questions in a survey is to test your questions on a small sample drawn from the sampling frame.This is known as what?

Accepted Answer

Testing questions on a small sample before administering the survey to the full sampling frame is known as a pilot. This can help identify confusing or poorly worded questions and correct them before the survey is conducted, minimizing potential measurement errors.

Question 18

The human resources department of a large,well-known telecommunications firm would like to know the job satisfaction of the employees working at its company.The HR department's goal is to have every employee participate in this survey.For this scenario,what sampling method best fits HR's goal?

Accepted Answer

Attempted census involves surveying all members of the population, which is HR's goal in this scenario. Although it may be difficult to achieve a true census, attempting to survey every employee should be the goal. Other methods, such as convenience sampling or systematic sampling, could introduce bias into the results and not accurately capture the overall job satisfaction of the company's employees.

Question 19

Several watch-dog consumer groups have criticized the fast food industry for serving food with excessive fat content.One watch-dog announced that it will randomly select one fast food chain per week.The watch-dog will then decide,as a group,to purchase one item off the menu that has been advertised the most on television and in the newspapers.The watch-dog will then have that heavily-advertised,just-purchased item professionally sampled for fat content.Weekly results will be posted on the watch-dog's website.For this scenario,what best describes the watch-dog's sampling activities each week?

Accepted Answer

The watch-dog's sampling activities involve multiple stages: selecting a fast food chain, then selecting an item from that chain, which fits the definition of multistage sampling.

Question 20

During a provincial election,a campaign manager wishes to know how well her candidate will do in the upcoming election."Who" is likely to be identified in the sampling frame?

Accepted Answer

The sampling frame should include all eligible voters in the constituency as they are the population of interest for the election. Option B includes individuals who may not be eligible to vote, while Option C excludes potential voters who may not have committed to voting yet. Option D includes everyone over 18, but not all members of that group may be eligible to vote. Option E excludes potential new voters who did not participate in the last election.

Quiz 10: Sample Surveys