Chapter 11.3, Problem 27E

To determine

whether the given survey question is biased or not

Answer to Problem 27E

Here, the given question is a biased question and the one way to correct the flaw is to reword the question, you might ask, ”Do you think the government should address the issue of arsenic in the tap water?”

Explanation of Solution

Given:

“The tap water coming from our western water supply contains twice the level of arsenic of water from our eastern supply. Do you think the government should address this health problem?”

Calculation:

Given question is a biased question because it implies that the level of arsenic is a health risk. Whereas the issue is the presence of arsenic in the tap water which is highly toxic.

One way to correct this flaw is to reword the question, for example you might ask, ”Do you think the government should address the issue of arsenic in the tap water?”

Conclusion:

Therefore, the given question is a biased question and the one way to correct the flaw is to reword the question, you might ask, ”Do you think the government should address the issue of arsenic in the tap water?”