A journalism student is writing an article about her school’s new cell-phone policy, and she’d like to interview a random sample of students. Which of the following is the best example of a random sample?

a. The writer arrives at school early and interviews the first five students who come through the main entrance.

b. The writer pulls the names of five students from a hat that contains all students’ names. She interviews the five selected students.

c. The writer asks her teacher if she can distribute a brief survey to the students in her AP® Psychology class.

d. The writer passes out brief surveys to 50 students in the hall and uses the 18 surveys returned to her as the basis of her article.

e. The writer asks the principal for the names of 10 students who have had their cell phones confiscated for a day for violating the policy. She interviews these 10 students.