Survey research is difficult to do well, and this can be especially the case when the topic is people’s sexual attitudes and practices. For a book focusing in part on women’s sexuality, an author...

Survey research is difficult to do well, and this can be especially the case when the topic is people’s sexual attitudes and practices. For a book focusing in part on women’s sexuality, an author mailed 100,000 questionnaires to women who belonged to a variety of women’s groups in 43 states. These groups ranged from feminist organizations to church groups to garden clubs. The author’s questionnaire included 127 essay questions. The author received responses from 4,500 women. Findings in this survey included that 70% of respondents married 5 years or more reported having extramarital affairs and that 95% of respondents felt emotionally harassed by the men they love.

A The final sample in this study is large (4,500). Is this sufficient to ensure the representativeness of the sample? If not, what potential surveyresearch problem could lessen the sample’s representativeness?

B Is it possible on the basis of your response to Part A of this question to argue that any conclusions drawn by the author from her data are incorrect? What could you do to determine whether the results are correct?