Question

A study of an association between which ear is used for cell phone calls and whether the subject is​ left-handed or​ right-handed began with a survey​ e-mailed to 5000 people belonging to an otology online​ group, and 717 surveys were returned.​ (Otology relates to the ear and​ hearing.) What percentage of the 5000 surveys were​ returned? Does that response rate appear to be​ low? In​ general, what is a problem with a very low response​ rate?

Answer 1

Answer:

14.34%

Explanation:

To find the percentage of returned surveys over the total we divide and then multiply:

(717/5000)*100= 14.34%

The response rate appears to be low because it is less than 50% (which would be 2500 return surveys). Some statistical studies agree that 30 is the minimum number of observations a study must have, but this number does not ensure statistically significant results.  

The problem with a very low response rate is that survey´s answers does not significant represent the study population characteristics and so we cannot make inferences, correlations or regressions that are statistically significant. In this case, the conclusions that scientists make about association between the left-handed population and right-handed population with the use of cell phone calls could be wrong or not represent the population characteristics, which means answers are not trustful.