Identify biased samples
Key Notes:
🎯 In a biased sample, some people or items are more likely to be chosen than others.
Learn with an example
📗 Leroy, the host of a radio show, asked his listeners what they thought about school uniforms. 845 of the 1,000 listeners who called were in favour of them.
📗 Is this sample of the listeners likely to be biased?
- yes
- no
- Since the listeners who called might not be similar to the listeners who didn’t, it is likely to be a biased sample.
📗 Paul listened to 5 songs from each act of a musical. Each act has an equal number of songs.
📗 Is this sample of the songs in the musical likely to be biased?
- yes
- no
- Since Paul divided the songs into equal-sized groups by act and then chose an equal number of songs from each act, it is a representative sample. It is not likely to be a biased sample.
📗 Lillian listened to 2 songs from each act of a musical. Each act has an equal number of songs.
📗 Is this sample of the songs in the musical likely to be biased?
- yes
- no
- Since Lillian divided the songs into equal-sized groups by act and then chose an equal number of songs from each act, it is a representative sample. It is not likely to be a biased sample.
Let’s practice!🖊️
