Political Research Associates has been hired to conduct a survey to determine the percentage of voters.If the election were held today,who would vote for Candidate X for president? Candidate X has not even announced her candidacy for president and there are no previous surveys that would indicate voter preferences.Still,Political Research Associates must estimate the variability in the population in order to determine the size of the sample they need for their survey for Candidate X.Which of the following would be the wisest choice for estimating variability?
A)±5 percent
B)p = 1.96
C)q = 100 percent,p = 50 percent
D)p = 50 percent,q = 50 percent
E)n = 51 percent,q = 49 percent

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Since there are no previous surveys indicating voter preferences for Candidate X, choosing p = q = 50 percent would be the most appropriate estimate for variability in the population. This assumes that there is no reason to believe that any one group of voters is more likely to support or oppose Candidate X. This choice is also reasonable as it gives the maximum possible variance in the population, which will ensure that the sample size chosen is large enough to estimate the true percentage of voters who would support Candidate X with a satisfactory level of precision.

Political Research Associates Has Been Hired to Conduct a Survey