Random vs Biased SBA Review

Marsha wants to find out how other students at her school get to school each day. Which of the following groups, if surveyed, would give her the most accurate sample of the student body?

• her homeroom class

• the students on her bus

• students waiting in the carpool area

• members of the cycling club

Wendy wants to take a survey to determine which flavor of ice cream is the most popular at her school. Which of the following methods is the best way for her to choose a random sample of the students at her school?

• selecting ten students at random from each homeroom

• selecting members of the boys’ basketball team

• selecting members of the girls’ softball team

• selecting students who like her favorite flavor of ice cream

Jeanette wants to determine the most popular car in town. Which plan would give Jeanette the most accurate results?

• Conduct a sample survey of the cars in her schools’ parking lot at 1:30 on a school day.

• Conduct a random telephone survey of people who live in her state.

• Conduct a sample survey of the cars that are advertised in the local newspaper.

• Conduct a random survey of people entering a large grocery store in her town.

Nick wants to determine the amount of time seventh-grade students spend studying for their math exam. Which sampling method would be most unbiased?

• Survey the 15 girls in his class.

• Survey 60 seventh-grade students.

• Survey his 3 best friends.

• Survey the 13 boys in his class.

Celia has a large container in which four different kinds of coins are thoroughly mixed. She wants to take a sample of her coins to estimate which kind of coin she has the most. Which of the following methods is the best way for her to select a sample?

• taking one coin from the container

• taking coins until she has one of every kind

• taking ten coins of each type from the container

• taking thirty coins out of the container without looking

Kyle is at Guntersville State Park and is taking a survey to see what Alabama residents think of the access fee to the park. Who should he ask if he wants an unbiased sample of the Alabama population?

• Survey 10 kids playing at the playground

• Survey 25 doctors at the local hospital

• Survey 100 people by calling random numbers in an Alabama phone book

• Survey 300 college students

Maureen wants to determine whether her town has

more dog owners or more cat owners. She cannot ask

all 16,000 people in her town. Which sample would

be MOST representative of the town's population?

• 100 people at a cat show

• 100 people at a grocery store

• 100 people at a retirement home

• 100 people at a dog obedience school

Fora midterm project, Shamir has been asked to

design a survey. In which situation would it be TOO DIFFICULT for Shamir to survey the entire population?

• survey the members of one family to find which

  type of pet they would like to own

• survey the residents of California to find whom

  they prefer for governor

• survey the six major car rental companies in San

  Francisco to find the average cost per day of a

  rental car

• survey the ten members of a student council to

  find where they would prefer to hold their meeting

Julia wants to collect information about the favorite

colors of the 85 teachers at her school. What would be the most random way to sample the teachers?

• Survey all 6th grade teachers

• Survey Julia's favorite teachers

• Survey the coaches

• Put the teachers' names in a hat and pull out 10 people to survey.

Abby wants to know the favorite sport of students at

her school. She will ask 30 students to complete a

survey. Which group is the MOST BIASED?

• The first 30 students who arrive at school

• The 30 students in her homeroom

• Pull 30 students' names out of a hat

• 30 students from the football team