Question

identify the implied population in the information below. government agencies carefully monitor water quality and its effect on wetlands (reference: environment protection agency we report epa 832-r-93-005). of particular concern is the concentration of nitrogen in water draining from fertilized lands. too much nitrogen can kill fish and wildlife. twenty-eight samples of water were taken at random from a lake. the nitrogen concentration (milligrams of nitrogen per liter of water) was determined for each sample. the variable in this information is nitrogen concentration (mg nitrogen/l water).
○ samples of water taken at random
○ none of these choices
○ nitrogen concentration (mg nitrogen/l water) in the entire lake
○ number of fish
○ samples of water taken at random

Explanation:

The population in a statistical context refers to the entire group about which we want to draw conclusions. Here, water samples are taken from a lake to study nitrogen concentration. So the implied population should be the nitrogen concentration in all the water of the entire lake (since we are sampling from the lake to infer about the lake's water nitrogen concentration). The "samples of water taken at random" are the sample, not the population. "Number of fish" is not the focus here, and the correct option is about the nitrogen concentration in the entire lake.

Answer:

C. nitrogen concentration (mg nitrogen/l water) in the entire lake