Fact-Checking a Cafeteria Survey Before Publication
You are the editor of a high-school newspaper. A reporter submits this summary for the next issue: “A survey of 120 students found that 68% want the cafeteria to open at 7:30 a.m. instead of 8:00. The survey was posted on the newspaper’s Instagram account during lunch breaks, and 120 responses were collected. Most students skip breakfast because the cafeteria opens too late.” The reporter also notes that the principal opposes an earlier opening without a second staff shift, which costs 18,000 shekels per year, and that the student council has only 2,400 shekels in its budget. The paper’s faculty adviser asks you to fact-check the summary before publication. You have the survey data, the principal’s statement, and the budget figure, but no data on how many students skip breakfast or why.
1. Which sentence in the reporter’s summary is not supported by the evidence given, and what exact evidence is missing?
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The unsupported sentence is “Most students skip breakfast because the cafeteria opens too late.” The survey reports only a preference about opening time: 68% of 120 respondents want 7:30. It does not measure breakfast skipping, so “most students” cannot be calculated, and “because” asserts a cause the survey never tested. Even the 68% applies only to respondents, not all students. The editor should either delete the sentence or replace it with a claim the data can bear, such as “68% of respondents favour an earlier opening.” The missing evidence is a separate count of breakfast skipping and a question linking that behaviour to cafeteria hours.
2. What can you infer about the survey’s representativeness from the collection method? Explain how this affects the 68% figure.
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The method is a self-selected Instagram poll during lunch breaks. Only students who follow or see the account and choose to respond are counted, so the 120 are not a random sample of the school. Students who feel strongly about cafeteria hours are more likely to answer; students without lunch-break phone access are less likely. 120 out of a possible 2,400 is 5%, but size does not fix self-selection. Therefore the 68% can be reported as the opinion of respondents, not as “most students.” The editor should disclose the method and avoid generalizing.
3. Rewrite the unsupported sentence so it matches the evidence, and add one sentence the editor should insert to disclose the limitation.
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Rewrite: “Of the 120 students who responded to the newspaper’s Instagram survey, 68% said they want the cafeteria to open at 7:30 a.m. instead of 8:00.” Limitation sentence: “Because the survey was self-selected and conducted on Instagram during lunch breaks, the results may not represent all students.” This keeps the number and the preference but removes the unsupported “most” and “because.” The added sentence gives readers the information needed to judge the claim.