In the Associated Press/AOL poll, who is considered the population?

In this scenario, the population refers to the entire group about which we want to draw conclusions based on survey results. In the Associated Press/AOL poll, the interest lies in understanding the views or experiences of all adults in the United States. Therefore, the population is defined as all US adults, as this is the broad group from which the sample of surveyed individuals is drawn.

The sample, which consists of the 1,000 adults surveyed, is only a subset of the population used to infer conclusions about the larger group. Geographic limitations, such as adults in East Boston, do not encompass the entire population, making them inadequate representations for a national study. Similarly, only considering those who cut back on expenses would significantly narrow the focus and not represent the general attitudes or behaviors of all US adults. Hence, option A is indeed the correct identification of the population in this context.