Exam 11: Sample Surveys

Before premiering a blockbuster movie at a theatre,test screenings are done beforehand.A small number of selected theatres are chosen geographically throughout the country.Each theatre chosen is supposed to be representative of theatregoers in that area.Everyone is interviewed when the movie is over.Identify the type of sampling used in this example.

During the winter season,a prominent newspaper reporter is interested in writing a story about the lack of proper heating of apartment buildings in the city in which he lives.During a particular frigid weekend,this reporter manages to interview almost everyone in his own apartment building.The reporter finds that everyone,including himself,is satisfied with the heating in the apartment building.Identify the type of sampling used in this example.

A popular soft drink company periodically sets up survey booths in various malls and grocery stores that are chosen at random.The employees working the booths ask interested individuals to fill out a very short survey on the quality of the company's drinks.While filling out the surveys,the individuals are told that a properly completed survey will be rewarded with giveaways,such as free samples,T-shirts,generous coupons,and possibly an appearance in a new television commercial.What,if any,will be the most noticeable bias?

A mega-discount chain store just opened a new clothing store in town emphasizing mainly women's clothing.Before opening,management had to decide whether to only carry either men's,women's,boys',girls',or infants' clothing.After performing representative sampling of potential customers from each of these groups,it was decided to carry only women's clothing.Identify the type of sampling used in this example.

At the local university a survey was being done on whether or not the students liked the cafeteria food.The survey was located in the college newspaper and was to be filled out and sent to the editing office.Identify the type of sampling used in this example.

The human resources department of a large,well-known telecommunications firm would like to know the job satisfaction of the employees working at its company.The HR department's goal is to have every employee participate in this survey.For this scenario,what sampling method best fits HR's goal?

One day a popular morning show on a local radio station conducted a phone-in survey regarding the recent rise in the city's various utility rates.The survey lasted the entire morning show.Other than time constraints of the show,no callers were knowingly refused to voice their opinion on-air.The transcribed results were sent to various governmental agencies and local politicians.Identify the type of sampling used.

Management at a particular post office wants to know about the quality of its face-to-face service at its customer service windows.For one week,the post office will ask the customers directly.After a customer is helped,a different employee asks the customer a short question about his or her customer service experience.The customer's comments are then transcribed by a secretary.This survey runs smoothly and a lot of customer comments are collected.What,if any,is the most noticeable bias for this survey regarding customer service at this post office for that week?

A magazine publisher mails a survey to every subscriber asking about the quality of its magazine.The publisher wants 100% of the subscribers to respond.This 100% response rate will represent what?

A computer network manager wants to test the reliability of some new and expensive fiber-optic Ethernet cables that computer department just received.The computer department received 3 boxes containing 10 cables each.The manager does not have the time to test every cable in each box.The manager will choose one box at random and test 2 cables chosen randomly within that box.What is the sample?

Several watch-dog consumer groups have criticized the fast food industry for serving food with excessive fat content.One watch-dog announced that it will randomly select one fast food chain per week.The watch-dog will then decide,as a group,to purchase one item off the menu that has been advertised the most on television and in the newspapers.The watch-dog will then have that heavily-advertised,just-purchased item professionally sampled for fat content.Weekly results will be posted on the watch-dog's website.For this scenario,what best describes the watch-dog's sampling activities each week?

Mr.Smith works at a computer consultant company that provides technical information to computer departments of various manufacturing companies.Mr.Smith is alarmed at the number of spyware programs on the internet.Mr.Smith attempts to call every one of his clients only to ask (yes or no)if they have had any known problems with spyware infections on their computers or network.With regards to Mr.Smith's attempts to contact his clients for information about infections,what is the population?

The human resources manager of a large,well-known telecommunications firm wants to improve manager/employee relationships throughout the company.This HR manager wants to have several focus groups,each filled with randomly selected managers and employees in proportion to the company's overall manager/employee ratio.What sampling method best describes what is wanted by the HR manager?

The human resources department of a large,well-known telecommunications firm would like to know the job satisfaction of the employees working at its company,but the HR department is restricted by company policy to use only email to distribute and collect any type of employee questionnaire or survey.What sampling method is HR being forced to rely upon?

Mr.Smith works at a computer consultant company that provides technical information to computer departments of various manufacturing companies.Mr.Smith is alarmed at the number of spyware programs on the internet.Mr.Smith successfully samples every one of his clients only to ask (yes or no)if they have had any known problems with spyware infections on their computers or network.None of Mr.Smith's clients reported any spyware infections.With regards to Mr.Smith's contacting his clients,what is the census?

A popular soft drink company distributes written surveys with its product that a customer can fill out and mailed in or the survey can be filled out electronically on the internet.What,if any,will be the most noticeable bias?

A computer network manager wants to test the reliability of some new and expensive fiber-optic Ethernet cables that the computer department just received.The computer department received 7 boxes containing 20 cables each.The manager does not have the time to test every cable in each box.The manager will choose one box at random and test 4 cables chosen randomly within that box.What is the population parameter of interest?

A non-for-profit consumer agency wanted to investigate the economic and humanitarian contribution of this country's pharmaceutical companies by sampling large companies and businesses of all types.It was decided to sample the pharmaceutical companies first.After surveying the pharmaceutical companies,someone at the consumer agency wanted to distribute the data early.What,if any,will be the most noticeable bias in distributing the survey at this point in time?

A newspaper conducted a random telephone survey during the day regarding the percentage of stay-at-home moms and dads in the typical household.What,if any,will be the most noticeable bias for this survey?

A newspaper reporter decided to sample residents of all major metropolitan areas in the entire country.This sampling asked if the residents liked living in their city,or are they considering moving,and if so,where? Unfortunately,this survey went over budget and was stopped,and only the east coast of the country was adequately interviewed.With regards to having this survey labeled as representing the entire country,what,if any,will be the most noticeable bias for this survey as it is now?