NAME: ______

/ Stats and probability

Sources of Bias

/ DATE: Friday, November 02, 2018

1. “More than half of California’s doctors say they are so frustrated with managed care they will quit, retire early, or leave the state within three years.” This statement is the lead sentence in an article titled “Doctors Feeling Pessimistic, Study Finds”. This conclusion was based on a mail survey conducted by the California Medical Association. Surveys were mailed to 19,000 California doctors, and 2000 completed surveys were returned. Describe any concerns you have regarding the conclusions.

2. According to the article “College students prefer veggie strips to chicken strips”, tests were conducted using 40 college student volunteers at Texas Women’s University. Describe any concerns you have regarding the conclusions.

3. According to an article on the CNN.com web site titled “Majority of U.S. Teens Have Not Tried Illegal Substances,” 52% of surveyed teenagers had never tried illegal drugs. A very large random sample of 16, 262 high school students was the source of this information. Describe any concerns you have regarding the conclusions.

4. Last year a student did a project titled “Students want library to be open longer” where he surveyed the first 30 people to show up to the library in the morning and he asked them if they wanted longer library hours – 78% said yes. Describe any concerns you have regarding the conclusions.

5. Fox news did a poll which said “82% of viewers would not vote for Hillary Clinton”. They obtained this poll result by having two numbers to text people’s opinions. Describe any concerns you have regarding the conclusions.

6. A student last year did a poll where he found 50 students (randomly) and asked them one on one if they did the pledge everyday. 45% of the people in the survey responded yes. Describe any concerns you have regarding the conclusions.

7. Examine each of the following questions for possible bias. If you think the question is biased, indicate how and propose a better question.

a. Should companies that pollute the environment be compelled to pay the costs of cleanup?

b. Given that 18-year-olds are old enough to vote and to serve in the military, is it fair to set the drinking age at 21?

c. Do you think high school student should be required to wear uniforms?

d. Given humanity’s great tradition of exploration, do you favor continued funding for space flights?