Question

fiona asked her team to suggest ways of surveying the population of their middle school to find out how many students use bottled water.
which student has the method that is most representative of the school’s population?
○ raina suggested that she ask everyone in her math class on friday.
○ miya suggested that she ask students sitting in the first row of her classes on friday.
○ ryo suggested that he ask the basketball players at his practice on friday.
○ amir suggested that he ask every tenth student as he or she walks into school in the morning.

Explanation:

A representative sample should reflect the entire middle school student population without bias. Raina's method only samples one math class, which is a narrow, non-representative group. Miya's method only targets first-row students, which may have unobserved biases (e.g., students who sit in the front may have different habits). Ryo's method only samples basketball players, a specific subgroup with potentially different behaviors. Amir's method uses systematic random sampling (every tenth student entering school), which evenly selects students across different grades, friend groups, and habits, making it the most representative of the whole population.

Answer:

D. Amir suggested that he ask every tenth student as he or she walks into school in the morning.