A school district is conducting a survey regarding the effectiveness of its teachers. A random sample of 100 students from the district are chosen to complete the survey.
What is the population?
The population is all students enrolled in the school district.
The population is all teachers employed by the school district and all students enrolled in the district.
The population is all teachers employed by the school district.
The population is the 100 randomly selected students.
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is: The population is all students enrolled in the school district.
Explanation:
In any survey or study, the population refers to the entire group from which a sample is drawn and to which the results are intended to apply. In this case, the goal of the survey is to assess the effectiveness of teachers based on the opinions of students. Since the sample consists of 100 students from the district, the broader population that the survey aims to represent is all students enrolled in the school district.
It is important to note that the survey is about students’ perspectives on teachers. Therefore, the population is limited to students, not teachers, because the survey results are meant to reflect student opinions. Teachers are the subject of the survey, but they are not part of the population of interest.
The other options are incorrect for the following reasons:
- The population is all teachers employed by the school district and all students enrolled in the district: This answer is incorrect because the survey is focused on students’ views, not teachers. Teachers are part of the study, but not part of the population being surveyed.
- The population is all teachers employed by the school district: This is also incorrect because the survey specifically focuses on students, not teachers.
- The population is the 100 randomly selected students: While these 100 students make up the sample for the survey, they are not the entire population. The sample is just a subset of the broader population of all students in the district.
Thus, the population refers to all students enrolled in the district, as they are the ones whose opinions the survey aims to capture.