Question

A choral conductor has 1952 singers in her choir, some of them are professional singers. The conductor wants to estimate what percentage of singers are professional, but can't ask all 1952, so she instead asks 616 singers in front and finds 17 who are professionals.

Identify the sample.

Answer 1

The sample refers to the 616 singers asked to estimate the percentage of professional singers in the choir. Sampling involves selecting a subset of individuals from a population to estimate characteristics about the whole population using methods like simple random, stratified, and convenience sampling.

Step-by-step explanation:

The sample in the choral conductor's scenario refers to the group of 616 singers that were asked, out of the total 1952 singers in the choir, to estimate the percentage of professional singers. Sampling is a statistical method used to select a subset of individuals from a population to estimate characteristics about the whole population.

The different approaches mentioned, such as simple random sampling, stratified sampling, systematic sampling, cluster sampling, and convenience sampling, are all tactics used to ensure that the sample is representative of the entire population and can therefore provide reliable estimates about the population's characteristics.

For example, in the case of the New York Choral Society, if one were to determine whether the variances in heights between Tenor1 and Bass2 are significantly different, a comparison of variance, possibly using an F-test, could be conducted on the sampled data from both groups.