Home > CC2 > Chapter Ch8 > Lesson 8.2.1 > Problem 8-35
Suppose you were conducting a survey to try to determine what portion of voters in your small town support a particular candidate for mayor. Consider each of the following methods for sampling the voting population of your town. State whether each is likely to produce a representative sample and explain your reasoning.
A representative sample is a subgroup of the population that matches the general characteristics of the entire population. If you choose to sample 10% of the students, you would need to include an equivalent fraction of students from each grade and an equivalent ratio of male to female students as the larger population.
Ask every voter on your block.
Randomly pick one house from each block in the town and survey the homeowner.
Survey each person at the I-Jump Pancake Restaurant after church on Sunday morning.
Part (c): Not representative. This sample only includes those who attend church, eat at the pancake restaurant, and have time for brunch.
Ask people who are leaving the twice-yearly town hall meeting.
Visit every tenth person on the county’s voter registration list.