Question 14.1: State Governors on Capital Punishment Suppose a researcher w......
State Governors on Capital Punishment
Suppose a researcher wants to produce a television show featuring in-depth interviews with state governors on the subject of capital punishment. Because of time constraints, the 60-minute program will have room for only 10 governors. The researcher wishes to select the governors at random. Select a random sample of 10 states from 50.
Note: This answer is not unique.
Step 1 Number each state from 1 to 50, as shown. In this case, they are numbered alphabetically.
\begin{array}{llll} 01. \text{Alabama }&14. \text{Indiana }&27. \text{Nebraska }&40. \text{South Carolina}\\ 02. \text{Alaska }&15. \text{Iowa }&28. \text{Nevada }&41. \text{South Dakota}\\ 03. \text{Arizona }&16. \text{Kansas }&29. \text{New Hampshire} &42. \text{Tennessee}\\ 04. \text{Arkansas }&17. \text{Kentucky }&30. \text{New Jersey} &43. \text{Texas}\\ 05. \text{California }&18. \text{Louisiana }&31.\text{ New Mexico} &44. \text{Utah}\\ 06. \text{Colorado }&19. \text{Maine }&32. \text{New York} &45. \text{Vermont}\\ 07. \text{Connecticut }&20. \text{Maryland }&33. \text{North Carolina} &46. \text{Virginia}\\ 08. \text{Delaware }&21. \text{Massachusetts }&34. \text{North Dakota} &47. \text{Washington}\\ 09. \text{Florida }&22. \text{Michigan }&35. \text{Ohio }&48. \text{West Virginia}\\ 10. \text{Georgia }&23. \text{Minnesota }&36. \text{Oklahoma }&49. \text{Wisconsin}\\ 11. \text{Hawaii }&24. \text{Mississippi }&37. \text{Oregon} &50. \text{Wyoming}\\ 12. \text{Idaho }&25. \text{Missouri }&38. \text{Pennsylvania}\\ 13. \text{Illinois }&26. \text{Montana }&39. \text{Rhode Island}\\\end{array}Step 2 Using the random numbers shown in Figure 14-1, find a starting point. To find a starting point, you generally close your eyes and place your finger anywhere on the table. In this case, the first number selected was 27 in the fourth column. Going down the column and continuing on to the next column, select the first 10 numbers. They are 27,95,27,73,60,43,56,34, 93, and 06. See Figure 14-2. (Note that 06 represents 6.)
Now, refer to the list of states and identify the state corresponding to each number. The sample consists of the following states:
\begin{array}{llll} 27& \text{Nebraska }&43 &\text{Texas}\\ 95 &&56\\ 27 &\text{Nebraska }&34 &\text{North Dakota}\\ 73 &&93\\ 60& &06 &\text{Colorado}\\\end{array}Step 3 Since the numbers 95,73,60,56, and 93 are too large because there are only 50 states, they are disregarded. And since 27 appears twice, it is also disregarded the second time. Now, you must select six more random numbers between 1 and 50 and omit duplicates, since this sample will be selected without replacement. Make this selection by continuing down the column and moving over to the next column until a total of 10 numbers is selected. The final 10 numbers are 27, 43, 34, 06, 13, 29, 01, 39, 23, and 35. See Figure 14-3.
These numbers correspond to the following states:
\begin{array}{llll}27 & \text { Nebraska } & 29 & \text { New Hampshire } \\ 43 & \text { Texas } & 01 & \text { Alabama } \\ 34 & \text { North Dakota } & 39 & \text { Rhode Island } \\ 06 & \text { Colorado } & 23 & \text { Minnesota } \\ 13 & \text { Illinois } & 35 & \text { Ohio }\end{array}Thus, the governors of these 10 states will constitute the sample.
