You want to conduct a survey to find out what sport the students at your school prefer to play.
a) You interview 20 boys playing football at lunch. Is this a random sample? explain
b) The survey question you ask is, ''What is your favorite sport to play?'' Is this question fair or biased? Explain
a. No, players of other sports not represented.
b. Yes, it is open-ended.
a) No, interviewing 20 boys playing football at lunch is not a random sample. A random sample refers to a sample that is selected in such a way that every individual in the population has an equal chance of being included. In this scenario, by only interviewing boys playing football, the sample is biased towards those who already have an interest in that particular sport. To obtain a random sample, you would need to consider the entire population of students at the school and ensure that each individual has an equal chance of being selected for the survey. This could be achieved by using a random sampling method such as randomly selecting students' names from a list or using a random number generator to assign participants.
b) The survey question, "What is your favorite sport to play?" is fair as it does not explicitly favor any specific sport. It allows individuals to respond based on their personal preferences and experiences. This question provides an opportunity for respondents to express their choices independently without any influence or constraints. Therefore, it is an unbiased question that allows for a variety of responses based on individuals' own preferences.
a) No, interviewing 20 boys playing football at lunch is not a random sample. A random sample would involve selecting participants from the entire population of students at your school in a random and unbiased manner. Interviewing only boys playing football at lunch introduces selection bias, as it only represents a specific group of students who enjoy playing football.
b) The survey question, "What is your favorite sport to play?" is generally considered fair. It allows respondents to express their personal preference for any sport they enjoy playing without any specific bias towards a particular sport. However, it is important to note that the wording of the question should be carefully considered to minimize any unintentional bias or influence on the respondents' choices.