An art gallery wants to conduct a survey to see what type of offerings people are most interested in. It wants to begin with a simple random sample of 50 people who have previously purchased art at the gallery. Which of the following methods will produce a simple random sample?
A. Survey the 50 most recent purchasers.
B. Survey the 50 purchasers who have spent the most money at the gallery.
C. Use random numbers to choose 10 people from each of the following 5 groups: those who have purchased (1) watercolors, (2) sculptures, (3) canvas, (4) photographs, (5) mixed media.
D. Hold a brunch for previous customers and put comment cards at 50 randomly assigned seats.
E. Number a list of all people who have previously made a purchase. Use a table of random numbers to choose 50 people from this list and survey them.
Answer: E