Question

A study was conducted to determine which school meal ought to be removed from the weekly rotation. Everystudent in the school was asked to rank their top three school lunches. Tuna melts were found to be the least-favoredoption, with only 7.8 percent of students ranking tuna melts in their top three choices. Which of the followingaccurately differentiates whether this is an example of an observational study, an experimental study, or a survey?
(1 point)
This is an observational study since it included random sampling.
This is a survey since opinions were collected.
This is an experimental study since a cause-and-effect relationship can be inferred.
This is an experimental study since a treatment was applied to the test subjects.

Answer 1

This is a survey since opinions were collected.

Reason: students were asked their preferences (no treatment was applied), so it’s not an experiment. While surveys are a form of observational data collection, the best choice here is “survey.”