Final answer:
Rating in the Arbitron report refers to the percentage of listeners in the survey area population, not the television-related options provided. Factors affecting survey accuracy go beyond the margin of error, including survey methodology and question framing. Confidence interval size varies with confidence level, with a lower level resulting in a narrower interval.
Step-by-step explanation:
With respect to the basic estimates in the Arbitron report, rating refers to the percentage of listeners in the survey area population. This is important in various aspects such as determining the popularity of radio programming, the reach of talk radio hosts, and the distribution of news programming. When analyzing survey results, such as the proportion of American adults who download music weekly, statisticians use confidence intervals. For example, to create a 99 percent confidence interval for the true proportion of American adults who download music weekly, one must take into account the number of participants who indicated downloading music (80) out of the total survey sample (571).
Several factors not covered by the margin of error could affect the survey's outcome, such as the method of the survey, the wording of survey questions, and the time of day the surveys were conducted. Additionally, if the confidence level decreases from 99 percent to 90 percent, the width of the confidence interval would also decrease, reflecting less certainty in the estimate but a more precise range for the true population proportion. Understanding these concepts is critical when interpreting data like the distribution of televisions or religious body adherents percentages.