8. (a) (i) What is a qualitative survey? (ii) Complete the statement below by placing the missing word in the answer box - Leaving Cert Biology - Question 8 - 2020

Flora is to plants as fauna is to animals.

The student may have studied a grassland ecosystem.

A possible plant or producer in the grassland ecosystem could be grass.

The student may have used a quadrant to select an area for study.

To avoid bias, the student could throw the quadrat behind her back or randomly over her shoulder to ensure a random sample.

The student would record 4 hits for this plant.

To calculate the % cover for the plant, the formula is:
$\text{Percent Cover} = \left( \frac{\text{Number of Hits}}{\text{Total Points}} \right) \times 100$
If the total available points were 25 and there were 4 hits, then the % cover would be:
$\text{Percent Cover} = \left( \frac{4}{25} \right) \times 100 = 16\%$.

The student could repeat the survey or calculate the average of multiple trials to improve the reliability of the results.