Decisions are often made by businesses on the basis of fairly small samples in relation to the actual size of the population or number of customers. Thus, the future of products and services is often determined by relatively small numbers of people. But just how reliable are small-scale samples? Larger samples cost more money; they take more time and ultimately may not be any more accurate than a smaller sample. Are businesses and organizations right to rely so heavily on these small samples? Statistically speaking, a small sample is probably just as accurate.

1.Go to http://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm to determine the appropriate sample size for a population in your country. Briefly explain what is meant by confidence interval and confidence level. Assuming a confidence interval of 5, how large should the sample of households be when desiring a 95 percent confidence level? How large for a 99 percent confidence level?

2.What sample sizes are necessary to cover the population of the whole region in which you live with a confidence interval of a 5-percent and a 95-percent confidence level? Explain the effect population size has on a required sample size.