Suppose you are interested in whether or not the students at your high school would favor a grading system in which students may receive final grades of Aplus, A, Aminus, Bplus, B, Bminus, Cplus, C, Cminus, and so on. Would questioning every fifth student as they are leaving the school library until 100 students are interviewed be a good way to obtain a random sample? Explain your answer.
No, questioning every fifth student as they are leaving the school library would not be a good way to obtain a random sample. This method of sampling is known as systematic sampling, where every nth individual in a list is selected. However, this method may introduce bias as certain groups of students may be more likely to leave the library at specific times or follow a particular pattern.
To obtain a truly random sample, it would be better to use a random sampling method such as simple random sampling, where every student at the school has an equal chance of being selected. This would involve assigning a number to each student and then using a random number generator to select the students to be interviewed. This method would help ensure that the sample is representative of the entire student population at the school.