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Sampling Methods; random and volunteer samples

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Some television stations attempt to gauge public opinions by posing a question on the air and asking viewers to call to give their opinions. Suppose that a particular television station asks viewers whether they support or oppose a proposed federal gun control law. Viewers are to call one of two 800 numbers to register support or opposition. When the results are tabulated, the station reports that 78 percent of those who called are opposed to the proposed law. What do you think of the sampling method used by the station? Do you think that the percentage of the entire population that opposes the proposed law is as high as the 78 percent of the sample that was opposed? Carefully Explain.

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Solution Summary

This is a 240 word response comparing a random sample to a volunteer sample.

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The sampling method used by the station is improper for making valid statistical conclusions about the population. In order to make valid conclusions about the population from which the sample was selected, the sample must be what is called a random sample. A random sample is chosen in such a way that every possible sample of size n from the population ...

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