Question

The HR manager of a water-bottling company wants to estimate the proportion of employees that are pleased with the cleanliness of the bathrooms. She considers two methods of obtaining a sample of 550 employees from the 3,500 employees at the company.

Part A: To make the process easier, the manager considers surveying the first 550 employees who enter a company's annual conference center. Identify the type of sampling method proposed and discuss why this sampling method might be biased. (5 points)

Part B: The second method the HR manager is contemplating involves using a random number generator app to choose a simple random sample of 550 employees from a list of 3,500 employee names. How could she implement this method? (5 points)

Answer 1

Explanation:

Part A: This is an example of "convenience sampling". It is biased because not everyone has an equal probability of being selected.

Part B: The manager could generate 4 digit numbers between 1 and 3500, each number representing an employee. Running 550 trials will generate the sample.