The New Zealand taxation office

1. Suppose you are a consultant talking to the New Zealand Taxation Office, which wishes to

conduct a study on income tax cheating. The study has several objectives:

To identify the extent to which taxpayers cheat on their returns, their reasons for doing

so and the approaches the New Zealand Taxation Office can take to deter this kind

of behaviour

To determine taxpayers' experience of and satisfaction with various New Zealand

Taxation Office services

To determine what services taxpayers need

to develop an accurate profile of taxpayers' behaviour as they prepare their income

tax returns

To assess taxpayers' knowledge and opinions about various tax laws and procedures.

The federal government always wishes to be extremely accurate in its survey research. A

survey of approximately 5000 individuals located throughout the country will provide the

database for this study. The sample will be selected on a probability basis from all households

in New Zealand.

Eligible respondents will be adults over age 18. Within each household, an effort will be made

to interview the individual who is most familiar with completing tax returns. When there is

more than one taxpayer in the household, a random process will be used to select the

member to be interviewed.

Questions

How would you determine the appropriate sample size?

Design the sample for a personal, in-home questionnaire administration.

Design a suitable sample procedure for the New Zealand Taxation Office, explaining reasons.