Intro to Statistics Problems

Mr. Williams is a chef at a restaurant, and he would like to add a new dessert to his menu. He decides to conduct a survey in order to help him make the decision about what type of dessert to add. Which of the following sampling techniques should Mr. Williams use in order to obtain the most representative sample of survey respondents?

• Mr. Williams should ask all the guests at the restaurant who order chocolate cake for dessert.

• Mr. Williams should ask all the children who visit the restaurant over the course of a week.

• Mr. Williams should ask at least one hundred randomly-chosen guests at the restaurant over the course of a week.

• Mr. Williams should ask one table of guests during lunch and one table of guests during dinner.

Ms. Nash, an executive with a television company, is trying to decide on the subject matter for a new television series for adults. She chooses to conduct a survey to help her make an informed decision. Which of the following sampling techniques should Ms. Nash use in order to obtain the most representative sample of the viewing audience?

• Ms. Nash should ask a randomly-chosen, equal number of men and women shopping at a department store.

• Ms. Nash should ask five men and five women shopping at a local grocery store.

• Ms. Nash should ask men and women from a variety of age ranges who are attending a science fiction movie festival.

• Ms. Nash should ask the first two hundred men she encounters on the busy street in front of her office.

Josie heard this ad on the radio for Kittie's Boutique.

"Ninety-five percent of surveyed customers say our boutique is the best in town."

Which of the following would be a valid reason for Josie to be skeptical about the ad?

• The ad doesn't say who was surveyed.

• Josie has never been to Kittie's Boutique.

• Josie does not like shopping at boutiques.

• The ad doesn't say how many people have been to the boutique.

Linnea wants to find out which types of movies are the most popular at her school. Which of the following groups is the most representative sample for her to survey?

• 5 students waiting in line for an action movie

• 25 students in the cafeteria

• 25 students waiting in line for an action movie

• 5 students in the cafeteria

Lakeesha wants to find out what percentage of the people in her town speak more than one language. Which is the best group of people for her to survey?

• 100 people who are enrolled in a Spanish class

• 100 people randomly selected from the telephone book

• 100 people who answer an advertisement in the newspaper

• 100 people randomly selected from the local university faculty

A local park in Savannah's neighborhood does not allow people to walk their dogs in the park. Savannah wants to find out what percentage of people in the neighborhood agree with the rule. Which of the following strategies would be best?

• She should ask people who are walking their dogs in the neighborhood.

• She should ask all the people who live on one street.

• She should ask people who are playing in the park.

• She should ask people who do not have dogs.

Carl wants to estimate the number of students in 5^th grade who like to play basketball. He needs to create a random sample of students. How should Carl collect his sample?

• Carl should ask 30 students who are playing basketball.

• Carl should ask 30 students who go to the same school.

• Carl should ask 30 5^th-grade students.

• Carl should ask 30 students who are playing football.

Which of the following would produce a sample that would be representative of a school's seventh-grade population?

• surveying every fifth seventh grader in a pre-algebra class

• surveying every fifth seventh grader in the library

• surveying every fifth seventh grader in the cafeteria in one of the school's three lunch periods

• surveying every fifth seventh grader entering the school at the beginning of the school day

An advertising company claims that its surveys make valid generalizations about the people it surveys. Which of the following is the most important consideration for the people the company selects to survey?

• The people must volunteer for the survey.

• The people must be relatively easy for the company to contact.

• The people must be a representative sample of the population.

• The people must be a small enough group that they can answer questions quickly.

A snack food company wants to find out the opinions of middle school students in a community about its products. Which method produces the most representative sample for the survey?

• Mail surveys to all the homes within ten blocks of the schools in the community.

• Obtain a list of all students from the schools and randomly choose 200 students to interview.

• Send text messages to all cell phone numbers in the community that end in a 5.

• Set up a booth at a local store where the snacks are sold and interview students who come into the store.