Chapter 10, Problem 27E

Parent opinion, part 2 Let’s revisit the school system described in Exercise 26. Four new sampling strategies have been proposed to help the PTA determine whether parents favor requiring elementary students to pass a test in order to be promoted to the next grade. For each, indicate what kind of sampling strategy is involved and what (if any) biases might result.

1. a) Run a poll on the local TV news, asking people to text in whether they favor or oppose the plan.
2. b) Hold a PTA meeting at each of the 20 elementary schools, and tally the opinions expressed by those who attend the meetings.
3. c) Randomly select one class at each elementary school and contact each of those parents.
4. d) Go through the district’s enrollment records, selecting every 40th parent. PTA volunteers will go to those homes to interview the people chosen.