Big-Banks Break-up. A nationwide survey of 1000 U.S. adults, conducted in March 2013 by Rasmussen Reports (field work by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC), found that 50% of respondents favored a plan to break up the 12 megabanks, which then controlled about 69% of the banking industry.

(a) Identify the population and sample for this study.

(b) Is the percentage provided a descriptive statistic or an inferential statistic? Explain your answer.

The given statement is:

A nationwide survey of 1000 U.S. adults, conducted in March 2013 by Rasmussen Reports (field work by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC), found that 50% of respondents favored a plan to break up the 12 megabanks, which then controlled about 69% of the banking industry.

We know that sample is a subset of the population.

From the given study, we can conclude the population is all U.S. adults.

In the same way, we can also conclude that 1000 U.S. adults were surveyed.

Therefore, the sample is 1000 U.S. adults.

We can observe from the given study that 50% of respondents favored a plan to break up the 12 megabanks.

In other words, half of the people polled agreed that major banks should be broken up.

As a result, the proportion is based on a sample of individuals in the United States.

As a result, the reported percentage can be interpreted as descriptive statistics.