3. Representative Samples.

When you want to test hypotheses about some population, we can't usually test the entire population. You usually need to pick a sample that is likely to represent the population accurately. Consider each situation below and answer the questions.

a. A music producer wants to find out what college students think about various types of popular music. The producer conducts a survey around the video games area of the student union. What is an example of a conclusion the producer might reach based on this survey that might not be true about college students in general?

b. An auto manufacturer wants to conduct on-the-street interviews to find out what adults in the United States think of the company's latest TV advertising campaign. The interviewer decides to use the people standing at the bus stop near her home throughout the day as the sample population.

What is an example of an erroneous conclusion one might draw from this population?

What might be a more representative sample of the audience targeted by the advertisement?