What can you say about the response total?
A fictional repair club asks its participants about longer opening hours.
The question
The coordinator will run a pilot if at least two-thirds of all 48 participants say yes. Each person can reply once. A volunteer wants to announce that 75% of participants favor the pilot.
| People | |
|---|---|
| Participants asked | 48 |
| Replies so far | 36 |
| Yes replies so far | 27 |
All recorded replies came from different participants.
“Give a clear update for the coordinator and say what the count can support.”
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A strong answer, step by step
Open each step in turn. This is one strong answer, not the only one.
Step 1: Who does 75% describe?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Say 75% of respondents so far
The strong move. This names the correct numerator and denominator.
Say 75% of all participants
Tempting, but it misses something. Twelve participants have yet to reply.
Treat the nonrespondents as no votes
Tempting, but it misses something. The outstanding responses could include yes votes.
See how a strong candidate says it
“Twenty-seven of 36 respondents, or 75%, said yes. The pilot criterion uses all 48 participants.”
Why it works: The early percentage and the decision criterion refer to different groups.
Step 2: Can you make the decision yet?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Run the pilot because 75% is above two-thirds
Tempting, but it misses something. The 75% uses only respondents so far.
Wait for enough evidence to apply the 32-vote threshold
The strong move. The early count cannot settle the decision.
Cancel because 27 is below 32
Tempting, but it misses something. At least five outstanding votes could still be yes.
See how a strong candidate says it
“We need 32 yes replies. Twelve are outstanding, so the final yes count could be 27 to 39. I would wait for the deadline.”
Why it works: That range includes outcomes on both sides of the threshold.
Step 3: What is the final result?
All 12 outstanding replies arrive before the deadline. Three say yes and nine say no.
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Report 30 of 48 and say the threshold was not met
The strong move. It gives the final count and applies the stated rule.
Keep 75% because it was correct earlier
Tempting, but it misses something. That percentage describes only the early respondents.
Run the pilot because yes got a majority
Tempting, but it misses something. The agreed threshold was two-thirds, above a simple majority.
See how a strong candidate says it
“The final result is 30 of 48, or 62.5%. That is two yes votes short of 32.”
Why it works: Apply the same rule after adding all of the outstanding replies.
Step 4: Answer the coordinator
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Give the result and state what the survey measured
The strong move. The coordinator can explain the decision without claiming future usage.
Say the change would not bring in more people
Tempting, but it misses something. The survey did not measure actual visits.
See how a strong candidate says it
“Thirty of 48 people favored longer hours, two short of the pilot threshold. These answers show what people said they preferred. We have no count of who would actually use the hours.”
Why it works: The survey supports a statement about preference and a decision under the stated rule.
The answer, in short
- Decision
- Report 30 of 48 and apply the stated threshold.
- Because
- At least 32 yes votes were required. The closed survey received 30.
- What would change it
- A final count of at least 32 yes votes from the same 48 participants would meet the criterion.
Common traps
- Use a respondent percentage as an all-participant percentage.
- Infer future visits from preferences.
Check your answer
- I named who was counted.
- I checked the threshold.
- I updated the final result.
- I stated the survey’s limit.
Last reviewed Nov 11, 2026