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10.04 Samples from a population

Interactive practice questions

After the government decided to increase the minimum retirement age, a news poll selected a group of people to ask their opinions on the changes.

What kind of people should be represented to avoid sampling bias?

People in the community who have a wide variety of views, even if they are not directly affected by the changes.

A

People in the community who have a wide variety of views, excluding politicians and policy makers.

B

Only people in the community who would be directly affected by the changes.

C

Only people who are employed.

D
Easy
< 1min

Irene is interested in which students from her school catch public transport. Select whether the following sampling methods are likely to be biased or not.

Medium
< 1min

A political polling company calls $1000$1000 people at home between $4$4pm and $6$6pm on weeknights to find out who they are most likely to vote for in an upcoming election. They publish their numbers based on the responses of only the $450$450 people who answered their call.

Medium
1min

Marine biologists want to determine if a local species of fish is growing to a smaller size than it used to. They collect and measure $150$150 of the $450$450 fish known to exist in the area.

Medium
< 1min
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Outcomes

VCMSP323

Investigate reports of surveys in digital media and elsewhere for information on how data were obtained to estimate population means and medians.

VCMSP324

Identify everyday questions and issues involving at least one numerical and at least one categorical variable, and collect data directly from secondary sources.

VCMSP326

Compare data displays using mean, median and range to describe and interpret numerical data sets in terms of location (centre) and spread.

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