A) Interviewing 20 boys playing football at lunch is not a random sample. In order for a sample to be truly random, every individual in the population must have an equal chance of being selected. However, in this case, only boys playing football at lunch are being interviewed, which means that the sample is not representative of the entire student population at your school. It is likely biased towards students who prefer to play football.
To obtain a random sample, you need to ensure that every student at your school has an equal chance of being selected. One way to do this would be to assign a unique identifier, such as a student ID number, to each student. Then, you can use a random number generator to randomly select a certain number of students from the entire population. This would give you a random sample that better represents the preferences of all students at your school.
B) The survey question "What is your favorite sport to play?" is generally fair, as it allows respondents to freely choose and express their preferred sport. However, the wording of the question could potentially introduce bias if the options provided are limited or if it assumes that the respondents play sports.
To ensure fairness and avoid bias, you can consider the following approaches:
1. Offer an open-ended question: Instead of providing predetermined options, allow respondents to write down their favorite sport(s) without any constraints. This allows for a more comprehensive range of responses.
2. Include a "None" or "Other" option: To account for those who do not play any sport or prefer an activity not listed, include an option to indicate their preference or lack thereof.
3. Use inclusive language: Avoid making assumptions about the respondents' gender, ability, or experience level. This encourages a diverse range of responses and prevents exclusion or bias.
By implementing these considerations, you can ensure that the survey question is fair, unbiased, and capable of capturing a broader range of preferences.