Public Opinion, Polls, News & Digital Information — Practice · Grade 12 Social Studies

Chapter: Civic Participation & Public Policy

What this practice covers

By the end of Public Opinion, Polls, News & Digital Information you should be able to:

8 questions, written answer, each with a worked explanation.

Vocabulary used: population, sample, nonresponse, sampling uncertainty, framing.

Problem 1

Why does a high support percentage among respondents not necessarily describe the population?
Answer and explanation

Selection and nonresponse may affect who answered. The percentage measures the supplied respondents under the question and method. Population inference needs evidence that the method supports that generalization, not just a large-looking share.

Problem 2

Why does a sampling margin not remove every possible poll error?
Answer and explanation

It concerns sampling uncertainty under specified assumptions. Coverage, nonresponse, wording, timing, and measurement can introduce other problems. Evaluate the complete method rather than treating one margin as a guarantee of total accuracy.

Problem 3

What should be checked when a headline expands a study’s conclusion?
Answer and explanation

Compare the original study’s population, period, method, outcome, and limitation with the headline. A bounded finding does not establish universal success. Identify the specific expansion instead of dismissing all research or accepting the headline automatically.

Problem 4

Why should a correction identify what remains supported?
Answer and explanation

It prevents an error from becoming either total dismissal or continued exaggeration. State the corrected measure and scope, retain valid evidence, and explain which broader inference no longer follows.

Problem 5

Invented poll: 100 invited people; 20 responses; 15 support and five oppose; no information about nonrespondents or representativeness. Calculate support and response rates, then qualify the population claim.
Answer and explanation

Support is 75 percent among respondents and the response rate is 20 percent of invitees. The supplied data do not reveal the other 80 views or establish a representative population estimate. The result accurately describes the replies under this method, but cannot be reported as 75 percent of all residents without further evidence. No sampling margin is supplied or justified by the packet.

Compute 15/20 and 20/100.

Identify absent views and method limits.

State the supported scope.

Response criteria

  • Explain the relevant institution or economic concept accurately; show correct calculations where needed.
  • Connect supplied evidence and stated assumptions to an explained conclusion.
  • Compare feasible options and their effects on different people without stereotypes.
  • Identify a limitation, tradeoff, uncertainty, or condition that qualifies the conclusion.

Problem 6

Do ten reposts establish ten independent sources?
Answer and explanation

No. Trace the original record. Reposts can share one origin and repeat the same error; reach differs from corroboration. Seek independently produced evidence relevant to the same claim.

Response criteria

  • Explain the relevant institution or economic concept accurately; show correct calculations where needed.
  • Connect supplied evidence and stated assumptions to an explained conclusion.
  • Compare feasible options and their effects on different people without stereotypes.
  • Identify a limitation, tradeoff, uncertainty, or condition that qualifies the conclusion.

Problem 7

Invented voluntary survey: 200 invitations, 50 replies, 30 supporters. Calculate response and respondent support rates.
Answer and explanation

Response is twenty-five percent and support among respondents sixty percent. Neither identifies nonrespondents’ views or establishes a representative population estimate. Method, wording, timing, and coverage remain important.

Response criteria

  • Explain the relevant institution or economic concept accurately; show correct calculations where needed.
  • Connect supplied evidence and stated assumptions to an explained conclusion.
  • Compare feasible options and their effects on different people without stereotypes.
  • Identify a limitation, tradeoff, uncertainty, or condition that qualifies the conclusion.

Problem 8

A headline changes a one-year town finding into a claim that a policy always works nationally. Identify the expansion.
Answer and explanation

It expands period, population, setting, and certainty beyond the study. Compare the original method and outcome, then state the bounded finding. Broader success needs additional comparable evidence, not merely a confident headline.

Response criteria

  • Explain the relevant institution or economic concept accurately; show correct calculations where needed.
  • Connect supplied evidence and stated assumptions to an explained conclusion.
  • Compare feasible options and their effects on different people without stereotypes.
  • Identify a limitation, tradeoff, uncertainty, or condition that qualifies the conclusion.

Browse all courses