A group of biologists is interested in surveying the abundance of barrel cacti (a type of plant) in a particular desert. They divide the desert area into 1200 equal-sized rectangular areas. Of these, 247 areas are too difficult to access, so are excluded. Of the remaining 953 areas, 50 are chosen at random to be surveyed. The biologists then randomly select a 100 square metre section of each of these areas to survey. The number of barrel cacti in each of the chosen sections is then measured.

(a) Briefly describe how you could use a table of random digits to select 50 out of the 953 areas to survey.

(b) Is non-response bias a potential problem with the survey? Briefly justify your answer.

(c) Is selection bias a potential problem with the survey? Briefly justify your answer.

(d) Are behavioral considerations a potential problem with the survey? Briefly justify your answer.

(e) Can the results from this survey be applied to another desert 300 kilometers away? Briefly justify your answer.

(f) Is the survey subject to sampling errors? Briefly justify your answer.

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