Question

1. Should Pi Day, March 14, be a national holiday? A telephone poll of 1058 adults ages 18 and older Americans living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia found that 149 said yes to this question. What is the populations for the sample of this survey? What is the sample?

2. A poll called 2500 random phone numbers and asked to speak to an adult member of the household. The pollster asks “How many times in the last six months have you eaten at a Mexican restaurant? “. a. What do you think is the population the pollsters have in mind? b. If of the 2500 calls placed, only 1053 responses are made, what is the non-response rate? c. What is the most likely cause response error for this poll?

Answer 1

1. Population for the sample of this survey

All the Americans living in 50 states and having age above 18 years can be considered as the population for this survey.

Population is the set of all possible/eligible responses for that particular survey, so here everyone who satisfies the condition of being an American and living in one of the 50 states and is 18+ years old can be considered in population.

Sample of this survey

The data was collected from a telephonic interview of 1058 adults, so these 1058 adults can be considered as a sample for this survey because practically its not possible to survey all the Americans who live in those 50 states and are 18+ years old.

So a good estimate of the population is required, so a good sample can be considered as a good representative of the population.