Identifying Representative Random and Biased Samples

A student wants to know which type of pizza the students at his high school prefer. Which option would give a unbiased, representative sample:

• Asking all the students in the hot lunch line.

• Asking 10 random students from each homeroom.

• Asking every other student who gets off a school bus.

• Asking all the 10th graders.

To determine how often people eat out, every tenth person entering a fast food restaurant is surveyed.

• Biased Sample

• Unbiased Sample

Which of these statements best describes a biased sample?

• It is very small.

• It is not randomly chosen.

• It results in incorrect predictions.

• It does not accurately represent the population.

Biased or Random?

Jace wants to find out what the favorite soda flavor is at Churchill Middle School. He decides to ask all the students in Mrs. Shoemaker's class as a sample group.

• Biased sample

• Random sample

Biased or Random?

Audi wants to find out how students get to school at Churchill so she places the names of all students into a fish bowl and pulls out 50 so she can survey them.

• Biased sample

• Random sample

Biased or Random?

Chloe and Danna want to determine the favorite subject of all students in the middle school. So they place every middle school student's name in a bucket and choose 30 to poll.

• Biased sample

• Random sample

Joey wants to determine the favorite candy among all 7th graders. So he asks all the people who sit in his row in Math class.

• Biased sample

• Random sample

You want to survey the students in your school about their exercise habits. At lunchtime you stand by a vending machine. You survey every student who buys something from the vending machine.

• Biased sample

• Random sample

Chris B. and Kris S. want to determine the most popular Basketball player in all of Sacramento so they poll everyone at lunch.

• Biased sample

• Random sample

Biased or Random?

Mrs. Locke wants to determine who the best teacher in all of Menifee County is, so he asks every 7th grader who their favorite teacher is.

• Biased

• Random