A Polling Company Obtains an Alphabetical List of Names of Voters

Multiple Choice

A polling company obtains an alphabetical list of names of voters in a precinct. They select every 20th person from the list until a sample of 100 is obtained. They then call these 100 people. Does this sampling plan result in a random sample? Simple random sample? Explain.

A) Yes; no. The sample is random because all voters have the same chance of being selected. It is not a simple random sample because some samples are not possible, such as a sample containing the second person on the list.

B) Yes; yes. The sample is random because all voters have the same chance of being selected. It is a simple random sample because all samples of 100 voters have the same chance of being selected.

C) No; no. The sample is not random because not all voters have the same chance of being selected. The second person on the list has no chance of being selected. It is not a simple random sample because some samples are not possible, such as a sample containing the second person on the list.

D) No; yes. The sample is not random because not all voters have the same chance of being selected. The second person on the list has no chance of being selected. It is a simple random sample because all samples of 100 voters have the same chance of being selected.