Question

Suppose a telephone poll is conducted by contacting U.S. citizens via landlines about their view of gay marriage. Suppose over 50% of those called do not support gay marriage. Does that mean that you can say over 50% of all people in the U.S. do not support gay marriage? Explain.

Answer 1

If over 50% said they do not support gay marriages then yes you can say that because it is factually correct. If the facts were less than 50% you could NOT say that because it is not factually correct. If EXACTLY 50% said they do not support then you would say neither more or less than 50% because it would not be factually correct.

Answer 2

No

Explanation:

The only people who were contacted were those with a landline, which is not the entire U.S. Because of the cell phone, there are many in the U.S. who do not own a landline, so this does not represent the entire U.S. population.