Sampling Methods

How can survey studies assess changes over time?

one way is survey the same question at different points in time (i.e attitudes towards school system from one year to the next) or a panel study where studying the same people at 2 or more points in time.

What are different ways of conducting interviews (face-to-face, telephone)? Pros & Cons

-Face to Face: Con- expensive & time consuming - Telephone: Pro- less expensive, researchers can work faster

What are various random and non-random sampling techniques researchers can use to attain a sample? pros and cons of each technique?

-Simple random sample: everyone on the pop. has an = chance of being in the sample, Pro no bias Con: Expensive -Stratified random sampling: divides pop. into sub groups (strata) then random sampling techniques occur. Pro: accurately reflects the groups Con: Expensive -Cluster sampling: randomly eliminate sections of the pop. to make sampling easier Pro: doesn't have to sample from list of people to have a true random samp.Con: Expensive -Haphazard sampling(Connivence samp.): people in pop. chosen based on how easy they are to sample con: bias -Purposive sampling: People from a select group are specifically sought after Pro: good to limit the samp. Con: Bias -Quota samp: specific % of sub-pops. being collected Pro: inexpensive & convenient Con: Bias

What are the different methods that can be used to administer a survey (questionnaires, mail surveys, online)? Pros & cons

Questionnaires: Pro- low cost, anonymous Con: you need to read & a lot of comprehension, take a lot of time Mail Surveys: Pro- Low cost Con: low rates of feedback, no assistance if they need help Online: Pro- easy to design, Con: hard to know who to administer it to, response rates, ethical issues

Why is it important to attain a high response rate?

because it indicates how much bias there might be in the final sample of respondents. the lower the response rate greater the likelihood that such biases may distort the findings and limit ability to generalize.

Why might it not be so bad to collect college student samples?

college students are highly diverse, + representative of society as a whole. also can be replicated at other college campuses.

What is the "Solomon four-group design" and what are the advantages to using it?

half of the participants are given the pretest, other half receive the posttest only. thus same experiment is being conducted w/ + w/o it.

What considerations should be made when attempting to generalize research findings across cultures?

how it is people respond depending on the personality + gender of the experimenter. make sure that any influence the experimenter is constant throughout.

How might the specific location in which samples are collected also bias research findings?

people in one type of setting or environment can differ from those in other environments. people in Midwest tend to be more extravert than northeast. westerners more open.

To what extent do researchers rely on college students, volunteers, and internet-based technologies when collecting research samples?

researchers rely a lot on college students for they are easily accessible, volunteers are usually more educated, more social. online based allows for more diversity however it is a specific demographic that uses the internet.

How should the sample size be adjusted given the desired confidence errors and likelihood of sampling error?

sample size should be adjusted based on size of population, larger sample size for increased accuracy.

What considerations should be taken when attempting to sample a population?

selecting a sample from the population of interest.