Note: Your teacher will grade your response to ensure you receive proper credit for your answer.
The city of Valley Grove is considering shortening the length of the school day. The school board hired Mr. Kent to do a survey to help them decide what to do.
a. Mr. Kent interviewed 54 students as they left the school. Is this a random sample? Explain.
b. Mr. Kent used this survey question: “Should the lengthy school day, which now extends for 7.5 hours, be shortened to 6 hours?” Is this question biased or fair? Explain.
c. Of the 54 responses he received, 51 were “yes.” The rest were “no.” What percent of the responses were “no”?
a. It is unclear if the sample is random based on the given information. Additional information about how the students were chosen for the interview is needed to determine if it was a random sample.
b. The question may be biased because it includes the phrase "lengthy school day," which implies that the current length is problematic. A more neutral question might be, "What do you think is the ideal length for a school day?"
c. 5.6% of the responses were "no" (3 out of 54).