b A bias is an error that results in a misrepresentation of a whole population.
A
a Self-selected sample
B
bPopulation: People who spend a lot of time on the Internet and visit that particular website.
Conclusion: The sample is biased.
Practice makes perfect
a We are considering a website that contains a link to a survey. We want to find the type of sampling method used in this situation. Let's recall how samples can be classified.
Members that are readily available or easy to reach are selected.
Even though the website and the link are available to every person, it is the users who decide whether to click the link and participate in the survey. Therefore, this is a self-selected sample.
b We want to identify the population that is likely to respond to the survey. People who spend a lot of time on the Internet and those who visit that particular website are likely to participate in the survey. We can conclude that the sample might be biased.
