A random sample uses chance to select members of a group. In a generalization question, the cue is who was selected, not the size of the sample. Identify the group the researchers chose from, then match the choices to that group and what was measured. Random selection does not extend results to people outside the sampled state or school type.
Hints
- Hint 1
The sample is what the researchers actually selected. Here, they selected schools, not individual students. Which schools could have been chosen?
- Hint 2
A population is the larger group a sample can represent. Random selection helps within the group chosen from. Keep both the state and the school type in view.
Step-by-step
Match the population to the sampled schools
Step 1Identify which schools could be selected
No Desmos needed. This asks who the sample can represent, not for a calculation. The sample is the selected schools. They were public high schools in Texas, so private schools and schools in other states could not have been selected.
- Step 2
Set the limit of the random sample
The schools were selected at random, which helps them represent the group they came from. Random sampling supports generalizing to the sampled group, not a larger one. So the tutoring results can reach Texas public high schools, but not schools that had no chance of being picked.
- Step 3
Match that group to the students in the question
The researchers measured the percentage of students participating at each school. The matching student population is all public high school students in Texas. Choice C.