Much like sound bytes of news stories, statistical studies are often reduced to one - or two - sentence stat-bytes. For the following stat-byte, discuss what crucial information is missing and what more you would want to know before acting on the study. A cable network reports on a survey of America's top restaurants that found that "only nine restaurants achieved a rare 29 out of a possible 30 rating and none of those restaurants are in the Big Apple." Which of the following are crucial information that you would want to know before acting on the study? Select all that apply.

A. The goal of the study

B. How the quality of restaurants was measured

C. The variable of interest

D. Who the respondents in the survey were

E. How the respondents were selected

To enable one act on the following information it is critical that one understands

The Goal of the Study: This is very crucial. Every study must have a purpose. Acting on a stat-byte without knowing its purpose most likely will prove abortive and unproductive. Who the respondents in the survey were: Who are those who's opinion was sampled? do they patronize the restaurants? on what metric is their judgment based on? These are some of the information that one must look at critically. How were the respondents selected: Random sampling is very key to ensuring the normalcy of population distribution. Some researcher make the error of engaging in Convenience Sampling: type of non-probability sampling where the sample is drawn from a group of people very easy to reach.

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