Question

At its​ website, a polling company publishes results of a new survey each day. At the end of the survey, the following paragraph is printed summarizing how the results were collected. Results are based on telephone interviews with​ 1,008 national​ adults, aged 18 and​ older, conducted on April​ 2-5, 2007 ... In addition to sampling​ error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls. Use this information to answer the following: For this survey identify the population of interest. everyone in the nation that is 18+ years old everyone that was called, whether they responded or not everyone in the nation everyone that responded to the call Correct The company performs its surveys by phoning numbers generated at random from a computer program. What is the sampling frame? everyone with a telephone everyone that had their phone number generated everyone that responded to the call everyone that did not have their phone number generated Incorrect What problems, if any, would you be concerned about in matching the sampling frame with the population? Some people were not available to answer the call. Some people do not have telephones. Some people answered the call, but chose not to participate in the survey.

Answer 1

a) adults 18 and older

b) Everyone with a telephone

c) Some people do not have telephones.

Explanation:

a) Identify the population of interest

The population of interest is the population that will be studied. For this survey subjects were adults aged 18 and older who were interviewed by telephone. Therefore, the population of interest would be everyone in the nation that is 18 years and older.

b) The company performs its surveys by phoning numbers generated at random from a computer program. What is the sampling frame?

The sampling frame is the source from which a sample is drown. In this case, the sample was selected by a computer program which generated phone numbers, therefore, the sampling frame is everyone with a telephone.

c) What problems, if any, would you be concerned about in matching the sampling frame with the population?

The main problem with this sampling frame is that people who don't have telephones have zero chance of being selected. Therefore, this subset would be the main concern.