b May some members of the sampleoverrepresent or underrepresent some reading habits?
A
a Convenience sample
B
b Yes, see solution.
Practice makes perfect
a We are given information about a newspaper conducting a poll to investigate reading habits of a community. We want to determine the sampling method used by the newspaper. To do so, first recall some methods of obtaining different sample types.
The poll is carried out near the exit of a history museum. Note that it is convenient for the pollster to stay in one place and consider people that are available near the exit. Therefore, this is a convenience sample.
b In Part A, we found that the sample selected by the newspaper was a convenience sample. This method might be biased based on the following factors.
Factor
Explanation
It depends on who visits the museum.
The people who respond may overrepresent or underrepresent some views about reading.
The interests of the visitors may vary.
For example, people interested in history might have different reading habits than the others.
People passing or exiting the museum might be in a hurry.
Then the sample would be too small to make general conclusions about the population.
