Question

The town council wants to estimate the proportion of all adults in their medium-sized town who favor a tax increase to support the local school system. Which of the

following sampling plans is most appropriate for estimating this proportion?

a. A random sample of $250$names from the local phone book

b. A random sample of $200$parents whose children attend one of the local schools

c. A sample consisting of $500$people from the city who take an online survey about the issue

d. A random sample of $300$homeowners in the town

e. A random sample of $100$people from an alphabetical list of all adults who live in the town

Short answer

The most appropriate sampling plan is

e. A random sample of $100$people from an alphabetical list of all adults who live in the town

Step-by-step solution

Given information 

Given in the question that, the town council wants to estimate the proportion of all adults in their medium-sized town who favor a tax increase to support the local school system. We need to find a most appropriate sampling plans for estimating this proportion from the options.

Explanation

The town council wants to know how many adults in their medium-sized town support raising taxes to fund the local education system. As a result, we must consider the three conditions for computing a population proportion hypothesis test: random, independent, and normal.

As a result, option (e) is the most appropriate sample plan since everyone in the population is expected to be listed in the alphabetical list of all adults, and because we choose a random sample from the list, the random requirement will be satisfied. The prerequisites are not met in the rest of the options. As a result, option (e) is the proper choice.