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In the summer of 1936 a polling service telephoned 10,000

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In the summer of 1936 a polling service telephoned 10,000 [#permalink] New post 24 Jul 2010, 02:09
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In the summer of 1936 a polling service telephoned 10,000 United States voters and asked how they planned to vote in the coming presidential election. The survey sample included a variety of respondents—rural and urban, male and female, from every state. The poll predicted that Alfred Landon would soundly defeat Franklin Roosevelt. Nevertheless, Roosevelt won in a landslide.
Which one of the following, if true, best explains why the poll’s prediction was inaccurate?
(A) The interviewers did not reveal their own political affiliation to the respondents.
(B) Only people who would be qualified to vote by election time were interviewed, so the survey sample was not representative of the overall United States population.
(C) The survey sample was representative only of people who could afford telephones at a time when phone ownership was less common than it is today.
(D) No effort was made to determine the respondents’ political affiliations.
(E) Because the poll asked only for respondents’ candidate preference, it collected no information concerning their reasons for favoring Landon or Roosevelt.

How to choose between B and C.? Please advice.
[Reveal] Spoiler: OA
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Re: summer of 1936 [#permalink] New post 24 Jul 2010, 02:53
(B) Only people who would be qualified to vote by election time were interviewed, so the survey sample was not representative of the overall United States population.
It makes a bit of sense, but not strongly clear enough to explain the shocking result of the election.

(C) totally explains it, since the fewer people with telephones at home, the less accuate the telephone survey will be.
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Re: summer of 1936 [#permalink] New post 28 Jul 2010, 05:30
The argument is least bothered about overall United States Population. The Argument has explicitly talked about United States voters. As maintained by the argument it is clear that United States Voters are NOT an accurate reflection of the the GENERAL POPULATION. Therefore no need to assume something that is long way away.
B can be ruled out in view of the reason that the information in B is beyond the facts stated on the argument.

C is precise
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Re: summer of 1936 [#permalink] New post 28 Jul 2010, 08:10
+1 for C.. Believe it was a straight-forward one.
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Re: summer of 1936 [#permalink] New post 28 Jul 2010, 08:51
If as B says only those people who were eligible to vote were interviewed - the survey was in fact representative of the population. B just stitches two contradistinct scenarios - if eligible voters alone were interviewed - how can the sample not be representative? You don't want to count the opinion of those who would not have been eligible to vote in the first place So B does not explain the discrepancy.
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Re: summer of 1936 [#permalink] New post 28 Jul 2010, 21:09
dwivedys wrote:
If as B says only those people who were eligible to vote were interviewed - the survey was in fact representative of the population. B just stitches two contradistinct scenarios - if eligible voters alone were interviewed - how can the sample not be representative? You don't want to count the opinion of those who would not have been eligible to vote in the first place So B does not explain the discrepancy.


Exactly my explanation

C rules
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Re: summer of 1936 [#permalink] New post 29 Jul 2010, 07:16
agree with Dwivdeys explanation.
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Re: summer of 1936 [#permalink] New post 30 Jul 2010, 20:10
C for me too.
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Re: summer of 1936 [#permalink] New post 18 Aug 2010, 03:02
+1 for C
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Re: summer of 1936 [#permalink] New post 18 Aug 2010, 21:23
C is perfect in all sense
Re: summer of 1936   [#permalink] 18 Aug 2010, 21:23
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In the summer of 1936 a polling service telephoned 10,000

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