Question

Critical Thinking: What does the survey tell us? Surveys have become an integral part of our lives. Because it is so important that every citizen has the ability to interpret survey results, surveys are the focus of this project. The Pew Research Center recently conducted a survey of 1007 U.S. adults and found that 85% of those surveyed know what Twitter is.

Analyzing the Data

A common criticism of surveys is that they poll only a very small percentage of the population and therefore cannot be accurate. Is a sample of only 1007 adults taken from a population of all adults a sample size that is too small? Write a brief explanation of why the sample size of 1007 is or is not too small.

Short answer

Surveys involving large populations assume a sample size of 1000 units. Thus, the sample size of this survey, equal to 1007 adults, is adequate and not too small.

Step-by-step solution

Given information

A survey consisted of 1007 U.S. adults. 85% of those who were surveyed know what Twitter is.

Adequacy of the sample size

It is generally believed that for a survey involving an extremely large population (nationwide/worldwide individuals), a sample size of 1000 units is considered sufficient.

A sample size greater than 1000 units will incur significantly high costs and time intake. Thus, a size greater than 1000 units is not desirable.

Here, the population considered is the population of all adults (very large).

The sample size considered is equal to 1007 adults (approximately equal to 1000).

Therefore, the sample size of 1007 adults to conduct the survey is adequate.