A representative sample reflects the larger group a claim describes. For a survey about a whole school, compare who answered with who the claim is about, then ask how the respondents were chosen. A large number of responses cannot fix selection bias, which occurs when the way people enter a sample favors one kind of student.
Hints
- Hint 1
The target population is the whole group the newspaper wants to describe. Identify that group before judging the survey: does the claim concern the students who answered, or all students at the school?
- Hint 2
A self-selected sample consists of people who choose to respond rather than people picked by chance. Think about who would see a book club page and who might be especially willing to answer its reading survey.
Step-by-step
Check who answered
Step 1Identify the group in the claim
No Desmos needed. This depends on how students were sampled, not on calculating a percentage. The target population is the whole group the newspaper wants to describe. Here, the claim concerns all students at the school, so the respondents need to represent that group.
- Step 2
Check how students entered the sample
The link was posted on the book club social media page, and students chose whether to respond. That's a self-selected sample: students interested in books may be more likely to see the link or answer. So the respondents may include a greater share of regular readers than the school as a whole.
- Step 3
Limit what the percentage can tell you
The describes the respondents, not necessarily all students. Even responses cannot remove the bias in how those students entered the sample. So the claim that about of the whole school reads for pleasure is likely inaccurate; the survey does not establish the school's actual percentage. Choice C.