Question

In Exercises 1.36 to 1.39 , a biased sampling situation is described. In each case, give: (a) The sample (b) The population of interest (c) A population we can generalize to given the sample To estimate the proportion of Americans who support changing the drinking age from 21 to \(18,\) a random sample of 100 college students are asked the question "Would you support a measure to lower the drinking age from 21 to \(18 ?\) "

Short answer

Sample: 100 college students; Population of interest: All Americans; Population we can generalize to: College students in the U.S.

Step-by-step solution

Identify the sample

The sample in this scenario is the 100 college students that were randomly selected for the survey.

Identify the population of interest

The population of interest, in this case, represent all Americans, since the purpose of the survey is to estimate the proportion of Americans who support changing the drinking age from 21 to 18.

Identify a population we can generalize to given the sample

While the population of interest is all Americans, it's important to remember that the sample for this study is made up of college students. Because of this, the survey findings are more representative of college students' opinions, and therefore, we can generalize this to the population of college students in the U.S.