Gastwirth describes a court case in which Bristol Myers was ordered by the Federal Trade Commission to stop advertising that "twice as many dentists use Ipana as any other dentifrice" and more dentist recommended it than any other dentifrice. Bristol Myers had based its claim on a survey of 10,000 random selected dentists from list of 66,000 subscribers to two dental magazines. They received 1,983 responses, with 621 saying they used Ipana and only 258 reporting that they used the second most popular brand. As for the recommendations, 461 respondents recommended Ipana, compared with 195 for the second most popular choice.
a. Specify the sampling frame for this survey, and explain whether or not you think "using the wrong sampling frame" was difficulty here, based on what Bristol Myers was trying to conclude. List all difficulties and which do you think was most serious in this case.
b. What could Bristol Myers have done to improve the validity of the results after they had mailed the 10,000 surveys and received 1,983 back? Assume they kept record of who had responded and who had not.