Final answer:
Rachael is using a statistical sampling method to estimate the percentage of people who will vote for the Democratic candidate. This is part of social studies and requires a representative sampling technique to be accurate. Sampling is a common strategy in political science for gauging public sentiment and predicting election results.
Step-by-step explanation:
Rachael's approach to determining what percent of people will vote for the Democratic candidate by asking every 50th person on the list is a method of sampling in statistics, which is a part of the broader field of social studies. This method allows for a cost-effective way to get an estimate of voter preferences. Strategies such as this are commonly employed in political science and public opinion research to gauge public sentiment and predict electoral outcomes. It is important to ensure that the sample is representative of the larger population to obtain accurate results, which can be challenging due to factors such as response bias and non-random sampling errors.
Polling methods have evolved and now frequently involve phone or Internet surveys. They may use directories of potential respondents or strategies like random-digit-dialing (RDD) to create a sample that includes unlisted and cellular numbers. In some cases, especially with face-to-face surveys or exit polls, careful selection of polling sites and participants is essential to achieve a representative and random sample of voters. For Rachael's survey, random sampling from all residents of Northridge would be vital to avoid biases and ensure that the poll's findings are reflective of the community's actual voting intentions.