Question

The mayor of a city is interested in learning what goals are most important for residents of the city. Members of her staff visit one of the many neighborhoods in the city and ask 20 residents to fill out a survey. The mayor is concerned that the survey may be biased and not accurately reflect the overall interests in her town. Which of the following strategies is most likely to address concerns about the data being biased or inaccurate

a. Finding the same people surveyed previously to ask more detailed questions.
b. Visiting the same neighborhood to collect more survey responses
c. Visiting multiple new neighborhoods to collect more survey responses
d. Having her staff collect the data using an app rather than paper surveys

Answer 1

The best Option is C (Visiting multiple new neighborhoods to collect more survey responses)

Step-by-step explanation:

Here, bias could arise in various ways. From the survey questions, people selected and so many more. The 20 residents selected to fill out a survey might not truly represent the true position of the entire population. Bias often occurs when the survey sample does not accurately represent the population. Since the aim of the survey is to "learn what goals are most important for residents of the city", the 20 people selected might not produce the right result. It wasn't even mentioned in the question if they were randomly selected, this could also lead to bias, maybe those 20 selected were friends to Members of her staff, or they were selected because they were easily accessible. You need to make sure your survey is distributed in such a way that all types of respondents get a chance to respond to it.

Having her staff collect the data using an app rather than paper surveys is not the best way too to address concerns about the data being biased or inaccurate because Some residents might not have easy access to a computer or a reliable internet connection. In-person interviews can create trust and cooperation from residents.