The government of a town needs to determine if the city/s residents will support the construction of a new town hall. The government decides to conduct a survey of a sample of the city/s residents. Which one of the following procedures would be most appropriate for obtaining a sample of the town's residents? A) Survey every 8 th person who walks into city hall on a given day. E) Survey a random sample of persons within each geographic region of the city. C) Survey the first 300 peogle lioted in the town's telephone firectory. D) Survey a random sample of employees at the old city hall.

The most appropriate procedure for obtaining a representative sample of the town's residents is: **E) Survey a random sample of persons within each geographic region of the city.** **Explanation:** - **Representativeness:** To ensure that the survey results accurately reflect the views of the entire population, it's crucial to include individuals from all geographic regions of the city. This approach helps capture the diversity in opinions that might exist across different areas. - **Random Sampling:** By selecting a random sample within each geographic region, you minimize selection bias, ensuring that every resident within that region has an equal chance of being included in the survey. - **Stratification:** Dividing the city into geographic regions and then sampling within each stratum (region) ensures that no particular area is overrepresented or underrepresented in the final sample. **Why Other Options Are Less Suitable:** - **A) Survey every 8th person who walks into city hall on a given day:** This method may introduce bias as it only includes individuals who visit city hall, possibly excluding a significant portion of the population who do not frequent that location. - **C) Survey the first 300 people listed in the town's telephone directory:** This approach might exclude residents without landline telephones or those who aren't listed, leading to a non-representative sample. - **D) Survey a random sample of employees at the old city hall:** This would only capture the opinions of a specific group (employees) rather than the entire population, leading to biased results. By implementing a stratified random sampling method across all geographic regions, the government can obtain a more accurate and representative understanding of the residents' support for the new town hall. **Answer:** E) Survey a random sample of persons within each geographic region of the city.