Question

1. to estimate average wingspan of a certain species of bird, wildlife researchers sample a number of birds. based on your understanding of the concepts and ideas from our coverage of chapters 3 and 4, which one of the following statements is correct?

a. if the sample size is increased, this will reduce both bias and variability.
b. if repeating the sampling method yields samples that give very different results, we say the sampling method has large bias.
c. as long as the researchers are sampling from a large population, we can be confident the margin of error will be small.
d. if some birds in the sample have their wingspans measured incorrectly, we have undercoverage.
e. none of the above statements are correct.

Explanation:

• Option A: Increasing sample size reduces variability but not bias. Bias is related to sampling method flaws, not size.
• Option B: Different results from repeated sampling imply high variability, not large bias. Bias is about systematic error in the sampling method.
• Option C: Sampling from a large population doesn't guarantee a small margin of error. Margin of error depends on sample size and sampling method, not population size alone.
• Option D: Incorrect measurements are measurement error, not under - coverage. Under - coverage is when parts of the population are left out of the sampling frame.

Answer:

E. None of the above statements are correct.