Question

A distinguishing characteristic of random number sample selection is that each?

1) Item in the population has an equal chance of being selected.
2) Item's chance for selection is proportional to its dollar value.
3) Stratum in the population has an equal number of items selected.
4) Item is selected from a stratum having minimum variability.

Answer 1

In random sampling, each individual in the population has an equal chance of being selected as part of the sample.

Step-by-step explanation:

A distinguishing characteristic of random number sample selection is that each item in the population has an equal chance of being selected. This is one of the fundamental principles behind random sampling, which is a method used to select a representative subset from a larger population. In random sampling, every individual or element of the population should ideally have the same probability of being chosen for the sample, regardless of their characteristics or location within the population.

By contrast, in other sampling methods like stratified or cluster sampling, samples may be chosen to ensure subgroups are represented or to simplify the sampling process, respectively, which does not guarantee each individual has the same probability of being chosen as in simple random sampling.