Question

The administrators of the city's Stormwater Program are interested in evaluating the public's knowledge of the causes and effects of stormwater pollution. They set up an information booth at the city's Earth Day celebration, and people who visit the booth are offered the opportunity to complete a survey on their knowledge of stormwater pollution.

(a.) If the population of interest is adult residents of the city, discuss any sources of bias that might limit the usefulness in using this survey to draw conclusions about this population.

(b.) The survey at the Earth Day celebration was intended to be used as a pilot study to make sure the questions were not ambiguous. The full survey is to be an online survey. Residents are to be made aware of the survey through information mailed with their utility bills, and asked to go online to complete the survey. Discuss any sources of bias that might be contained in the full survey.

(c.) Suppose we select a random sample of utility customers. Only the residents in the sample are to be made aware of the survey through information mailed with their utility bills, and asked to go online to complete the survey. Does this have any advantages or disadvantages over the full survey in part (b) in terms of possible bias? Explain.

Answer 1