+234 A political scientist wants to predict how the residents of NJ will react to a new bill proposed in the state senate. Which of the following study designs is most likely to provide reliable results for political scientist?
A) Mailing a questionare to each of 200 randomly selected residents of NJ.
B) Sureveying a group of 300 randmly selected NJ residents.
C) Interviewing a group of students randomly selected from a large public university in NJ.
D) Surveying a group of 1500 randomly selected US residents.
Why is the answer D and not B?
It asks for the reactions of NJ residents. Why would the answer say US residents? Us residents could be in california. I am so confused.
+23252 I think that your answer is better than their's. Having 1500 randomly selected persons is (almost always) more accurate than just 300; but, their answer seems to assume that the reaction of New Jersey residents will reflect the same attitudes as those of the country as a whole; an assumption that, I feel, is not warranted.
+161 I think it's B, but we can have a debate.
Okay, let's narrow this down:
First, read the problem carefully.
Now, we eliminate.
Choice D is wrong since it reflects of the whole U.S., not New Jersey.
Choice C is wrong since it reflects on STUDENTS at this public university in New Jersey.
Now we are down to A and B.
To me, I think it's B since it has a larger sample size, and it will have more accurate results.
I don't know why, either. I got B.
+2094 It would be D. It would be D because surveying everyone in the US would be much better than just NJ itself. Yes, NJ is the one that is getting the law, but they need to see whether it is a good law and if it is approved by surveying everyone in the US.
+161 @CalTheGreat, it says it wants to predict it in New Jersey, not the United States.
+2094 Yes, but it is good to see other state's opinions as well before deciding a law just for NJ.
