Question

A large statistics class has roughly 360 students, who all attend lecture together but are divided into recitation sections lead by different teaching assistants. The professor of this course wants to conduct a survey about how satisfied the students are with the initial lectures of the class.

a. Describe how the professor might obtain a simple random sample of the class.
b. If the professor believes that recitation session might influence student satisfaction levels, what type of sampling method might be appropriate? Why?

c. If the professor believes that students declared majors might influence their satisfaction levels, what type of sampling method might be appropriate? Why?

Answer 1

(A) To obtain a random sample, the professor can use the lottary system. He can put names of all the students in a box and then pick the required number of names.

(B) The professor should apply Stratified Sampling here where the different recitation sessions can be considered as stratas, this way will ensure that the differnece in any caused due to the recitation sessions is captured perfectly in the sample.

(C) The professor should apply Stratified Sampling here where the different maors can be considered as stratas, this way will ensure that the differnece in any caused due to the majors is captured perfectly in the sample.