A group of veterinarians at a major veterinary hospital was interested in investigating a possible link between enteroliths (stones that form in the colon of horses) and diet. They decided to conduct a survey of the feeding practices for horses admitted to the veterinary hospital. To obtain a random sample of the 5000 horses that had been admitted to the hospital over the last 10 years, the veterinarians sequentially assigned numbers (starting with 1) to the horses, in order of admittance. They then picked a random starting point and decided to sample every hundredth horse to get a random sample of 50 horses. This procedure corresponds to:
A)simple random sample, because all horses have the same chance of being picked.
B)a stratified random sample, because the procedure is obviously not a simple random sample.
C)a type of random sample, but not a simple random sample, because not all samples are possible.
D)None of the answer options is correct.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The procedure used to obtain the sample is a type of random sample, as it involves selecting every hundredth horse. However, it is not a simple random sample because not all samples are possible. Only samples that start at a particular point and include every hundredth horse can be obtained. Therefore, this is a type of systematic sampling.

A Group of Veterinarians at a Major Veterinary Hospital Was