A political researcher wishes to gauge political sentiment regarding a proposed tax cut. He obtains a list of 1000 email addresses from an internet provider, uses a random number table to select a random sample of 100 of these addresses, emails the people in the sample and requests that they respond to his questions by email. Do you think that the group of people who respond is likely to be representative of all registered voters? Explain your answer.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Answer is No; explanations will vary. Possible answer:  the sample was obtained from among people who own a computer. That group is likely to include relatively wealthy people who are more likely to favor a tax cut. Furthermore, the group includes those who chose voluntarily to respond. People who respond voluntarily are likely to have stronger opinions than the average voter.

A Political Researcher Wishes to Gauge Political Sentiment Regarding a Proposed