Lesson K1

K1 Populations, samples and sampling techniques Quiz: AQA Maths, Unit 11

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson K1, Populations, samples and sampling techniques: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Maths (7357), Unit 11: Statistics, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. In statistics, what is a population?

    • A subset chosen for the study
    • The numbers collected in a survey
    • The whole group of individuals that the study is about
    • Only people aged 16 to 18

  2. What is a sample?

    • All members of the population
    • A random variable
    • A subset of the population used to make inferences about the population
    • A numerical measure describing the population

  3. What defines simple random sampling?

    • Every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected
    • Members are chosen because they are easy to reach
    • Every tenth member after a random start is chosen
    • Only one group is chosen at random

  4. What defines opportunity sampling?

    • Selecting people who are available and willing at the time of the study
    • Every nth person from a list is chosen
    • Each group is sampled in proportion to its size
    • Whole groups are chosen at random

  5. Why are samples used to make inferences about a population?

    • Populations are always normally distributed
    • Samples are always more accurate than populations
    • Studying the whole population is usually impractical or too costly
    • Populations cannot be measured at all

  6. A school survey uses opportunity sampling of 30 students in the canteen to estimate opinion across the whole school. What is the main criticism?

    • It includes every student in the school
    • It is a random sample, so it is unbiased
    • It is always the best sampling method
    • The sample may be biased, since canteen users may differ from other students

  7. Two random samples of size 50 from the same population give different means. What does this illustrate?

    • The population has changed between the samples
    • The samples were not random
    • Sampling variability, so different samples can lead to different conclusions
    • One sample must be wrong

  8. A list of all 900 students is available and 90 are chosen using random numbers. Which technique is this?

    • Selecting the first 90 names on the list
    • Simple random sampling
    • Asking only Year 13 students
    • Opportunity sampling

  9. A study of the heights of adults in a town has population of interest defined as which group?

    • The heights recorded in the sample
    • The 200 adults who were measured
    • All children in the town
    • All adults living in the town

  10. Which of these is a statistic rather than a population parameter?

    • The mean height of a sample of 40 pupils
    • The population standard deviation
    • The true proportion of all voters
    • The mean height of all pupils in the school

  11. A fitness survey of 1000 people is sent by email to members of a gym. Which criticism is most valid?

    • Email surveys cannot be used in statistics
    • It is unbiased because the sample is large
    • The sample is biased towards people who already exercise
    • It is random because many people were contacted

  12. What is the best way to reduce bias in an opportunity sample?

    • Ask only the first person who arrives
    • Sample at different times and in different places
    • Increase the sample size at one location only
    • Ask only people who look friendly

  13. A population has 2000 members and a simple random sample of 100 is taken. What is the probability that a given member is selected?

    • 1/2000
    • 1/100
    • 1/10
    • 1/20

  14. A group of 6 pupils is available. How many different samples of 2 pupils can be chosen, with order ignored?

    • 15
    • 30
    • 12
    • 36

  15. A population has mean 50. Four samples have means 48, 52, 49 and 51. What is the mean of these sample means?

    • 52
    • 200
    • 48
    • 50

  16. Which factor makes a sample non-representative?

    • Sampling at a morning time
    • Using a sample of more than 30
    • Using a calculator to analyse the data
    • Selection that systematically favours or excludes some members of the population

  17. A town has 40% of residents under 18. In a random sample of 200 residents, how many would be expected to be under 18?

    • 120
    • 40
    • 8
    • 80

  18. What is a sampling frame?

    • A list of all members of the population from which a sample is drawn
    • The population mean
    • The questionnaire used in the survey
    • The sample taken after the survey

  19. When is a census preferred to a sample?

    • When it is cheaper than a sample
    • When the population is very large and speed matters
    • When the population is small or every member's result must be known exactly
    • When only an estimate is needed

  20. A sample of 100 people gives a proportion of 0.62 who support a policy. What is the best informal estimate for the population proportion?

    • Always 0.5
    • It cannot be estimated
    • About 0.62, with some uncertainty because of sampling variation
    • Exactly 0.62 for the population

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