Note: Your teacher will grade your response to ensure you receive proper credit for your answer.
The city of Valley Grove is considering shortening the length of the school day. The school board hired Mr. Kent to do a survey to help them decide what to do.
a. Mr. Kent interviewed 54 students as they left the school. Is this a random sample? Explain.
b. Mr. Kent used this survey question: “Should the lengthy school day, which now extends for 7.5 hours, be shortened to 6 hours?” Is this question biased or fair? Explain.
c. Of the 54 responses he received, 51 were “yes.” The rest were “no.” What percent of the responses were “no”?
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a. We cannot determine if the sample is random based on the information given. We would need to know how the 54 students were selected and if they represent the entire student population of the school in order to determine if the sample is random.
b. The question may be biased because it implies that the current school day is too lengthy and should be shortened. A more fair question would be, "What is your opinion on the length of the school day and how it impacts your education?"
c. The percent of responses that were "no" is 5.56%. (3 out of 54 is approximately 0.0556, which multiplied by 100 gives the percentage).