Question

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wants to know whether the healthcare system is achieving its goals in Virginia. Much information about healthcare comes from patient records, but that source doesn't allow us to compare people who use health services with those who don't. Therefore, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conducted the Virginia Health Survey, which was used to interview a random sample of 48,548 people who live in Virginia.

Part A: What is the population for this sample survey? What is the sample? (3 points)

Part B: Describe a method that could have been used to obtain the random sample. (3 points)

Part C: The survey found that 71% of individuals over age 25 and 88% of individuals ages 25 and younger in the sample had visited a general practitioner at least once during the past year. Do you think these estimates are close to the truth about the entire population? Explain. (4 points)

Answer 1

Answer: Part A: The population for this sample survey is all people who live in Virginia, while the sample is the 48,548 people who were interviewed in the Virginia Health Survey.

Part B: One method that could have been used to obtain the random sample is simple random sampling. This involves randomly selecting individuals from the population using a random number generator or other randomization method to ensure that each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected. Another method could be stratified random sampling, which involves dividing the population into strata based on relevant characteristics (such as age or income), and then randomly selecting individuals from each stratum in proportion to their representation in the population.

Part C: It is difficult to determine whether these estimates are close to the truth about the entire population without additional information. However, if the sample was selected using appropriate sampling methods (such as simple random sampling or stratified random sampling) and had a large enough sample size, then the estimates are likely to be relatively accurate. The margin of error, which depends on the sample size and variability in the population, can also be calculated to provide an estimate of the range in which the true population value is likely to fall. Overall, the accuracy of the estimates will depend on the quality of the sampling method used, the size of the sample, and the representativeness of the sample in relation to the population.

Answer 2

Explanation:

Part A: The population for this sample survey is all people who live in Virginia, and the sample is the random group of 48,548 people who were interviewed for the survey.

Part B: One method that could have been used to obtain the random sample is simple random sampling. This involves selecting individuals from the population at random, so that each person in the population has an equal chance of being selected. This can be done using a random number generator or by selecting names from a list of the population.

Part C: It's difficult to say whether the estimates are close to the truth about the entire population without more information about the survey methodology and potential sources of bias. However, assuming that the survey was conducted using sound sampling techniques and that the sample is representative of the population, it's possible that the estimates are reasonably accurate. Nevertheless, it's important to keep in mind that survey estimates always have some degree of sampling error, so the true population values could be slightly different from the survey results. Additionally, the survey may not capture people who don't have access to healthcare or who choose not to seek medical care, so the estimates may not be fully representative of the entire population.