In the 1998 General Social Survey, a random sample of 2613 adult Americans were

Question

In the 1998 General Social Survey, a random sample of 2613 adult Americans were asked whether they had voted in the 1996 Presidential election, and 1783 said yes. (a) The Federal Election Commission reported that 49% of those eligible to vote in the 1996 election had actually voted. Is 49% a parameter or a statistic? (b) Is it likely that the large difference between the sample and population values here is just the result of random sampling or does this example illustrate a problem with this survey? Explain.

Explanation / Answer

Firstly let us calculate the percentage of people who said yes among the sample.

1783 / 2613 * 100 = 68.24%

(a) 49% is a statistic.

(b) The large difference is likely due to the manner of random sampling. For an actual random sampling, the sample in question must be representative which is likely the problem here.

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