Anastasia Humphers-Ginther and Kristen Paulsen

Sampling and voting methods are used universally All methods have many flaws Fairness is always an issue INTRODUCTION 2

Multiple sampling methods Fairness based on population representation Prove that all sampling methods are flawed by misinterpretation through: - Method used - Ballot content - Promotion and advertisement misconduct - Question manipulation THESIS 3

Convenience Sampling Random Sampling Quota Sampling Stratified Sampling SAMPLING METHODS 4

Most convenient and cost effective to data collector Examples: - Website - Booths - Self Selection - Friends/Family Unrepresentative of population CONVENIENCE SAMPLING 5

Sample obtained is completely selected at random Problems: - All samples may be taken from same group - Unrepresentative of population RANDOM SAMPLING 6

Quota: Minimum number of votes required to pass a motion Quota Sampling: Forcing the sample to be representative of a population through quotas Unrepresentative of population Examples of quotas: - Gender - Race - Economic situation QUOTA SAMPLING 7

Breaking sampling frames into categories then further dividing by random samples: - Strata - Substrata - Etc. Predetermined number of steps Represents each individual part of the population Unrepresentative of population STRATIFIED SAMPLING 8

Conducted on April 12, 2011 by popular vote Proposed by Men’s swimming and diving team In support of keeping the following sports: - Men’s Tennis - Women’s Tennis - Women’s Bowling - Men’s Swimming and Diving MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY, MANKATO REFERENDUM Increase student activity fees by $0.75 per credit hour Affects 53 student athletes 9

14,383 eligible voters 22% of students participated Results: students voted for raising student fees and not cutting sports students voted against raising fees and cutting sports MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY, MANKATO REFERENDUM CONT. 10

Popular Vote Three choices : Yes, No, or Abstain Majority wins Vote took place online April 12, 2011 from 8am-6pm Advertised through open talks, fliers, and s VOTING METHOD OF REFERENDUM 11

Referendum was an online convenience sample Could not require eligible voters to participate Unrepresentative of student population VOTING FACTORS: CONVENIENCE SAMPLING 12

M ore representative of entire student population Stratify school population into subgroups of grades Then further into substrata of gender Lastly, substrata of athletic vs. non- athletic students WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN USED: STRATIFIED SAMPLING 13

Adjoined Ballot - Sporting Referendum - MSUM senate positions - Student union board committee Normal voter turnout = 11%-15% Ballot response rate in 2011 = 22% - High turnout due to 4 parties running for office VOTING FACTORS: BALLOT CONTENT 14

Men’s Swimming and Diving team violations: - Guaranteed free rock wall - Threatened elimination of all sports - Provided computers to vote on in resident halls - Provided cupcakes for votes - Said that professors would offer extra credit - Advertised with copyright infringements Created bias, affecting outcome of referendum VOTING FACTORS: PROMOTION AND ADVERTISEMENT MISCONDUCT 15

Questions can be made biased towards one side or another Sways voter opinions Not a factor in MSUM referendum - Ballot showed completely unbiased question VOTING FACTORS: QUESTION MANIPULATION 16

Proposition for a referendum to increase student fee support for MSU, Mankato Athletics The proposed ballot proposition would assess MSU, Mankato students an additional $0.75 per credit hour fee, for the fiscal years 2012, 2013, and 2014, to fully support the cost of 4 sports proposed for elimination due to University budget reductions. Those sports are: Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Women’s Bowling, and Men’s Swimming/Diving. The amount would be adjusted for each of the three years based on any cost fluctuations related to compensation, travel, and administrative costs. Currently, students pay $3.33 per credit hour to support operational and travel costs of 21 sports offered by the University. - Voting yes on this referendum will result in an increase in student fees of $0.75 per credit, for a maximum of an additional $9 each semester or $18 each year to support the 53 student athletes participating in these programs: Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Women’s Bowling, and Men’s Swimming/Diving. - Voting no on this referendum will not allow student fees to be raised, and the Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Women’s Bowling, and Men’s Swimming/Diving teams will remain subject to elimination. QUESTION MANIPULATIONS: ORIGINAL BALLOT 17

Proposition for a referendum to increase student fee support for MSU, Mankato Athletics The proposed ballot proposition would assess MSU, Mankato students an additional $0.75 per credit hour fee, for the fiscal years 2012, 2013, and 2014, to fully support the cost of 4 sports proposed for elimination due to University budget reductions. Those sports are:: Men’s Tennis, Women’s Tennis, Women’s Bowling, Men’s Swimming and Diving Currently, students pay $3.33 per credit per semester, which equals $39.96 towards MSU per semester and a total of $79.92 for the whole school year. With $0.75 increase, students would pay $4.08 per credit, which is an increase of $9 per semester and $18 per year for the support of only 53 student athletes. With the passing of this referendum, students would be paying $97.92 for student fees, even if said student is not involved in athletics. Also, it is projected that tuition may increase by 12% within the next two years. I, a student of Minnesota State University, Mankato who pays for activity fees, would comply to paying higher student activity fees for the four sports listed above, and I understand that this would directly benefit only 53 athletic students. Please mark your vote on the line below corresponding to your choice. Yes ________ No ________ QUESTION MANIPULATION: BIASED WORDING AGAINST REFERENDUM 18

Proposition for a referendum to increase student fee support for MSU, Mankato Athletics The proposed ballot proposition would assess MSU, Mankato students an additional $0.75 per credit hour fee, for the fiscal years 2012, 2013, and 2014, to fully support the cost of 4 sports proposed for elimination due to University budget reductions. Those sports are: Men’s Tennis, Women’s Tennis, Women’s Bowling, Men’s Swimming and Diving Voting yes on this referendum will result in an increase in student fees of $0.75 per credit for only the next three to four school years. Voting no on this referendum will not allow student fees to be raised, and the Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Women’s Bowling, and Men’s Swimming/Diving teams will be eliminated, cutting out 53 student athletes and potential profits from said sports. I, a student of Minnesota State University, Mankato and member of the community, would comply to paying $0.75 more per credit fee to allow the said sports to maintain a position in the University’s athletic program and to give support to the University as a whole. Please mark your vote on the line below corresponding to your choice. Yes ________ No ________ QUESTION MANIPULATION: BIASED WORDING FOR REFERENDUM 19

Stratified sampling within convenience sampling - Convenience: Within residence hall and courses - Stratified: Gender, Athletic vs. Non-Athletic Word bias against referendum - 8 votes for, 12 votes against Word bias for referendum - 11 votes for, 9 votes against QUESTION MANIPULATION: CONDUCTION OF EXPERIMENT AND FINDINGS 20

President Richard Davenport of MSUM has veto power - Mathematical Dictator Students who voted had little power - Mathematical Dummies Parameter unknown after vote Only supported 53 student athletes - Increasing student payments to athletics by 23% to support less than 8% of student athletes FAIRNESS: PRESIDENTIAL VETO 21

There is no sampling method that can be fair in all aspects for all parties involved Methods can vary in effectiveness according to the situation Sampling methods are easily flawed due to: - Method used - Ballot content - Promotion and advertisement misconduct - Question manipulation It is impossible for a sampling method to satisfy a population in its entirety. CONCLUSION 22

Brennan, Nate. “An Open Letter to President Richard Davenport.” The Reporter [Mankato] 14 Apr Print. Chida, Matt. “Consider the Athletes.” The Reporter [Mankato] 5 Apr Print. Denton, Joey. “Four Athletic Teams on the Chopping Block.” The Reporter [Mankato] 29 Mar Print. Hebrink, Josh. “Thoughts on the Referendum.” The Reporter [Mankato] 31 Mar Print. “Interview With the MSSA Vice President Moriah Miles.” Personal interview. Anastasia Humphers-Ginther, Kristen Paulsen. 15 Nov Rosemeyer, Ryan. “MSU President Vetoes Athletic Referendum.” The Reporter [Mankato] 21 Apr Print. Tannenbaum, Peter. Excursions in Modern Mathematics. 7 th ed. Boston: Pearson Education, Print. Williams, Tom. “Vote Today.” The Reporter [Mankato] 12 Apr Print. BIBLIOGRAPHY