I. Survey the first 20 students that get off the first bus

Question

II. Survey all the students in Ms. Matthew's class
III. Survey every 5th student that enters the school in the morning
IV. Put all the students name in a hat and draw the 20 names out to see who will be surveyed

Marsha wanted to know the average distance students at her school lived from the school. There are 320 students at her school. She had to decide what the best method to survey a random sample of students would be. Which options above would produce a reliable random sample?
Responses
A I, III, and IVI, III, and IV
B III and IVIII and IV
C IIIIII
D II and IIIII and III

Answer 1

To determine which options produce a reliable random sample, let’s analyze each option:

I. Survey the first 20 students that get off the first bus - This method is not random because it only surveys students from one specific bus and could lead to bias based on the bus route or time.

II. Survey all the students in Ms. Matthew's class - This option is not random either because it only includes students from one specific class, which may not be representative of the entire school.

III. Survey every 5th student that enters the school in the morning - This method can be seen as a systematic sampling approach. If students arrive in a random manner without consistent patterns, this could yield a reasonably representative sample.

IV. Put all the students’ names in a hat and draw 20 names out - This method is truly random since each student has an equal chance of being selected.

Given this analysis, options III and IV would yield reliable random samples. So the best response is:

B. III and IV