Namangupta1997 wrote:
Hi
AndrewN I am having a hard time understanding how C is correct. If people who ACTUALLY voted are more likely to be the respondents, there shouldn't be a discrepancy at all. If, for example, 60 people actually voted and they are also the ones who are more likely to be respondents, then how can this figure increase to 71? I am definitely missing something but I can't figure it out.
Also I had a hard time eliminating E. Is E eliminated because the "confusion" could have resulted the poll result to go either way?
Hello,
Namangupta1997. You are forgetting that a percent for a given group can apply to a different number of people. For instance, say that there were 200
eligible voters for the recent election. Of those 200, 60 percent, or 120 people, actually voted. If the poll selects all 200 eligible voters but gets back only 100 responses, and 71 respondents happen to have come from the 120 voters, while only 29 came from the non-voting but eligible-to-vote population—assuming that everyone provided an honest answer—then the percents would make sense: 71/120 ~ 59 percent, while 29/80 ~ 36 percent. I did select answer choice (C) on this basis.
That said, I think answer choice (E) is a little careless, in the sense that it could reasonably explain the discrepancy. We just have to favor one interpretation of it over another, either way we want to argue the case, and I do not think that would happen with an official question.
Thank you for thinking to ask.
- Andrew
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