Question

The Web portal AOL places opinion poll questions next to many of its news stories. Simply click your response to join the sample. One of the questions

in January $2008$ was “Do you plan to diet this year?” More than $30,000$ people responded, with $68\%$ saying “Yes.” You can conclude that

(a) about $68\%$ of Americans planned to diet in $2008$

(b) the poll used a convenience sample, so the results tell us little about the population of all adults.

(c) the poll uses voluntary response, so the results tell us little about the population of all adults.

(d) the sample is too small to draw any conclusion.

(e) None of these.

Short answer

The correct option is (c).

Step-by-step solution

Given information

More than $30,000$ people responded, with $68$ percent indicating that they had planned their diet for the year.

Concept

A simple random sample (SRS) of size $n$ is made up of $n$ people chosen from the population with an equal chance of being the sample that is actually chosen.

Explanation

The participant is given the option of clicking an answer, which results in a voluntary response. As a result, there is the potential for a voluntary response bias. As a result of the poll's use of voluntary responses, the data reveal little about the adult population.