Asked by t

(a)
Samuel is interested in finding out the favorite video game of other students ​at his school.
Explain how an observational study could also be used to answer this ​question.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
An observational study would simply collect information about students’ favorite video games without changing anything or assigning treatments. One practical way to do this:

- Define the population: all students at his school (or a specified subset, e.g., grades 6–8).
- Choose a sampling method to get a representative sample (simple random sample from the school roster, or stratified sample by grade to ensure every grade is represented).
- Design a short, neutral survey question (for example, “What is your favorite video game?”) and optional background items (grade, age) to check representativeness. Make it anonymous to reduce response bias.
- Administer the survey (paper in homeroom, an online form, or brief interviews) and record responses.
- Summarize the results (counts, percentages, top games) and, if desired, compute confidence intervals for popular choices.

Note limitations: nonresponse and self‑report bias, wording effects, and sampling errors can affect accuracy. These can be reduced by careful sampling, clear neutral wording, anonymity, and a sufficiently large sample. Because Samuel does not assign any treatments, this is an observational study.