Answer: alternative D.
Explanation: Dr. DeVries should choose his sample population randomly in order for his research to be representative, even having a specific population, which is high school seniors, that he wants to study. By choosing specifically students from an exclusive college preparatory school, he isn't considering how students from other schools might perform in his research test. This would be a very important step for him to understand how the practice in problem solving affects the ability related to it. Otherwise, he will have a distorted result.