Question

A national newsmagazine publishes an article on efforts to restrict talking on cell phones while driving. Subsequently, the magazine receives 1,500 letters commenting on the article, with nearly two-thirds of the letters favoring tougher restrictions on cellphone use while in the car. Would this be an accurate reflection of public opinion on this issue

Answer 1

The options are:

A). Not likely, because the sample is not random and thus probably not an accurate reflection of public opinion on the issue.

B). Not likely, because the sample size is too small.

C). Not likely, because a poll is only a snapshot of what people think at the time a poll is taken.

D). Yes, because the magazine has a national circulation and the sample size is sufficiently large.

Answer:

E). Not likely, because the sample is not random and thus probably not an accurate reflection of public opinion on the issue.

Explanation:

As per the given description, the two-third letters received by the magazine out of 1500 letters favoring the stricter rules against talking on the cell phone during driving 'can not be considered an accurate public opinion because the sample has not been taken randomly to reflect the exact opinion of the people.' Another key reason is that the audience of the news magazine includes a specific group of people who do not represent the entire population correctly. Secondly, even out of the ones who read it a very little percentage of people would take efforts to write about it after reading the article. Thus, it is not an accurate public opinion.