Many large cities have considered or passed proposals that ban the use of plastic grocery bags in stores. A concerned student would like to measure if residents of her hometown would consider a similar ban on plastic bags. Standing in a busy shopping area, the student approaches adults and asks, "Items made of plastics are a dangerous, growing source of pollution to our world’s oceans and threaten many animal species. Given this, would you support a ban on plastic shopping bags in our city stores?” How might the results of this survey be biased in estimating the proportion of all town residents who would support a ban on plastic bags?
Answer
A
The student may overestimate support for a plastic bag ban because only adults in the shopping area were chosen to participate.
B
The student may overestimate support for a plastic bag ban because the wording of the question may influence adults to support a ban.
C
The student may underestimate support for a plastic bag ban because the wording of the question may influence adults to not support a ban.
D
The student may underestimate support for a plastic bag ban because some adults may not want to answer questions about the environment.
Explanation
The question describes plastic pollution as dangerous and says it threatens animal species before asking whether people support a ban. That persuasive wording may lead respondents to favor a ban, so the survey could overestimate support among all town residents. Choice B correctly identifies this response bias; the question’s wording would not be expected to push people toward opposing the ban.
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