Final answer:
The sample is the 1049 individuals who responded to the questionnaire sent by the marketing firm. This group represents a portion of the larger population, which consists of Mumbai's registered taxpayers. The effectiveness of the sample depends on its ability to represent the population accurately.
Step-by-step explanation:
The sample in the marketing research study for the fast food restaurant in Mumbai is A) The 1049 people who respond to the questionnaire. This is because a sample consists of the individuals or entities who actually participate in the research by responding to the researchers' solicitations. Samples serve as a representation of a larger population, which in this case is the registered tax payers of Mumbai, or potentially the larger population of Mumbai depending on the study's objectives. It is important for the sample to be representative of the population for the study's conclusions to be accurately generalizable to the entire population.
Random sampling is utilized to select a subset of individuals where each member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen, thereby working towards reducing selection bias. The 3000 names, in this case, were randomly selected, but the sample only includes those who responded, which might introduce non-response bias if the responders differ significantly from non-responders.