Question

the government of a large city needs to determine whether the citys residents will support the addition of another fire house. the government decides to conduct a survey of a sample of the citys residents. which one of the following procedures would be the most appropriate for obtaining a sample of the citys residents? survey a random sample of the firemen who currently work in the city. survey every third person who walks into the local grocery store. survey the last 100 residents listed in the telephone directory. survey a random sample of persons within each neighborhood.

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze each option

• Option 1 (Survey a random sample of the firemen who currently work in the city): This sample is not representative of all city residents. Firemen are a specific group and may have different views compared to the general population.
• Option 2 (Survey every third person who walks into the local grocery store): This is a convenience sample. People who go to that particular grocery store may not be representative of all city residents. For example, it may be in a specific neighborhood with a certain demographic.
• Option 3 (Survey the last 100 residents listed in the telephone directory): Telephone directories may be outdated (not everyone is listed, especially with the rise of cell - phones and no - landline households). Also, it's a non - random selection from a potentially biased list.
• Option 4 (Survey a random sample of persons within each neighborhood): This ensures that all neighborhoods (and thus a diverse range of residents in terms of location, demographics etc.) are represented. Random sampling within each neighborhood helps in getting a representative sample of the whole city's residents.

Answer:

Survey a random sample of persons within each neighborhood.