Question 1

A major advantage of randomly selecting participants from a population is that
A) it allows you to do your study with fewer participants and still find statistical significance in your results.
B) you can be more confident that it was the manipulation of the independent variable that caused the changes observed in the dependent variable.
C) you can be more confident that your sample is representative of the population.
D) it is more likely that your sample will have the characteristics you need it to have.

Accepted Answer

Randomly selecting participants from a population increases the likelihood that the sample is representative of the population, as it minimizes selection bias and ensures that every member of the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample.

Question 2

A__________ is the full set of all individuals of interest and is typically hard to assess fully.
A) sample
B) population
C) sampling error
D) statistic

Accepted Answer

A population refers to the entire group of individuals or items of interest for a particular study or survey, which is often too large or impractical to measure in its entirety.

Question 3

In a truly random sample from a population,
A) all participants will be matched on important characteristics.
B) all members of the population have an equal chance of being selected.
C) gender distribution should be 50% male and 50% female.
D) every member of the population has a 50:50 chance of being selected.

Accepted Answer

In a truly random sample, the defining characteristic is that every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected, ensuring the sample's representativeness without bias towards any segment of the population.

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a nonrandom sampling technique?
A) convenience
B) cluster
C) snowball
D) quota

Accepted Answer

Cluster sampling involves dividing the population into separate groups, known as clusters, and then a simple random sample of these clusters is selected. If all individuals within the selected clusters are surveyed, this method incorporates elements of random sampling, distinguishing it from the nonrandom techniques listed in the other options.

Question 5

An)_________ is a list of all members of a population.
A) parameter
B) norming group
C) sampling frame
D) equal probability selection method

Accepted Answer

A sampling frame is a list of all the members of a population from which a sample is drawn. It is essentially the pool of subjects that the researchers can use to select their sample.

Question 6

Although statistics are calculated to represent parameters, we know that there can be a difference between the calculated statistic and population parameters. This difference is called
A) sampling error
B) sampling frame
C) sampling difference
D) parameter difference

Accepted Answer

Sampling error is the difference between a population parameter and a sample statistic due to the fact that the sample does not perfectly represent the population.

Question 7

When using simple random sampling it is suggested that you___________ because it will lead to a more representative sample.
A) sample with replacement
B) sample without replacement
C) sample half with replacement and half without replacement
D) use a larger sample than if using a nonrandom method

Accepted Answer

Simple random sampling without replacement ensures that each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected and that no member is selected more than once, leading to a more representative sample.

Question 8

Non-random sampling techniques typically produce _________samples.
A) random
B) representative
C) biased
D) systematic

Accepted Answer

Non-random sampling techniques often lead to biased samples because they do not give all members of the population an equal chance of being selected.

Question 9

Dr. Konrad contacts the registrar at his university to get a complete list of students enrolled. He wants to draw a simple random sample from the entire population. He does this to make sure he is creating a
A) framed sample
B) representative sample
C) stratified sample
D) cluster sample

Accepted Answer

A representative sample is one that accurately reflects the characteristics of the population from which it is drawn. By drawing a simple random sample from the entire population, Dr. Konrad ensures that every individual has an equal chance of being selected, which helps in creating a sample that represents the whole population accurately.

Question 10

To study career aspirations among high school students in Alabama, a researcher randomly selects 5% of the state's school districts and gives all the students in each district a survey designed to measure career goals. What sampling procedure is being used here?
A) quota
B) stratified
C) cluster
D) EPSEM

Accepted Answer

Cluster sampling is being used here because the researcher is selecting entire groups (or clusters) of students by randomly choosing school districts and then surveying all students within those selected districts.

Question 11

Random assignment of participants to the various groups in an experiment
A) makes it more likely that extraneous variables will impact the experiment.
B) increases the probability that the groups are equivalent.
C) is essential if you want to generalize your results to the population.
D) is very difficult to do and is therefore not commonly done.

Accepted Answer

Random assignment increases the likelihood that the groups will be equivalent at the start of the experiment, thereby controlling for extraneous variables and making it easier to attribute any differences in outcomes to the experimental manipulation rather than to pre-existing differences between the groups.

Question 12

____________is to____________ as population is to parameter.
A) Sample; statistic
B) Statistic; sample
C) Sample; element
D) Random sampling; nonrandom sampling

Accepted Answer

A sample is a subset of a population, and a statistic is a characteristic or measure obtained from a sample, analogous to how a parameter is a characteristic or measure obtained from a population.

Question 13

If you are interested in participants in your study with very specific characteristics e.g. English as a second language) you may conduct __________sampling and once you contact some individuals who want to participate, you may then conduct _________sampling in which participants identify other potential participants.
A) snowball; purposive
B) matched; snowball
C) random; non-random
D) purposive; snowball

Accepted Answer

Purposive sampling is used to select participants with specific characteristics, and snowball sampling involves current participants recruiting future participants.

Question 14

Dr. Monroe is interested in surveying college students at her university who are first generation college students. She contacts the registrar's office and finds out that there are 3500 first generation college students total. She wants to include 350 of those students in her sample. She then divided the population by the sample size and gets k = 10. She then picks a random number between 1 and 10 which is 8. This determines that every 8^th person in the population will be included in the sample. What type of sampling method is this? A) cluster sampling. B) stratified sampling C) random sampling D) systematic sampling

Accepted Answer

Dr. Monroe is using systematic sampling because she selects every kth (in this case, every 10th) individual from the population starting from a randomly chosen point (number 8 in this scenario).

Question 15

A subset of data drawn from the larger population of interest is a
A) population.
B) sample.
C) parameter.
D) quota.

Accepted Answer

A sample is a subset of data drawn from a larger population for the purpose of analysis.

Question 16

Which of the following nonrandom sampling techniques would be most similar to stratified random sampling?
A) convenience
B) quota
C) cluster
D) purposive

Accepted Answer

Quota sampling involves dividing the population into exclusive subgroups, similar to stratified random sampling, but then selecting subjects non-randomly, unlike in stratified random sampling where subjects are chosen randomly from each stratum.

Question 17

________of participants is done to obtain a representative sample, and ____________of the participants is done to improve the experimental design of the study.
A) Random selection; random assignment
B) Random selection; random sampling
C) Random assignment; random selection
D) Random assignment; matching

Accepted Answer

Random selection is used to obtain a representative sample of the population, ensuring that every individual has an equal chance of being chosen. Random assignment is then used to allocate these selected participants into different groups in an experiment, such as control and experimental groups, to reduce bias and improve the validity of the experimental design.

Question 18

Dr. Saucer is in the process of drawing individuals from a population to be included in a sample. This process is called
A) sampling frame
B) parameter
C) sampling
D) proximal similarity

Accepted Answer

Sampling is the process of selecting individuals from a population to be included in a sample for research or study purposes.

Question 19

Jim is conducting a survey to learn about student attitudes toward abortion. He passes out his survey to the first 100 students that enter the cafeteria. What sampling method is Jim using?
A) convenience
B) cluster
C) stratified
D) EPSEM

Accepted Answer

Jim is using a convenience sampling method because he is selecting the sample based on ease of access, choosing the first 100 students that enter the cafeteria without any attempt to randomize the selection process.

Question 20

Suppose you wish to test a representative sample of people in your psychology class on attitudes toward on-line courses. There are 40 people in the class, 30 females and 10 males. What would be the most efficient strategy to ensure that your sample reflects the distribution of males and females in the classroom population?
A) simple random sample
B) cluster sample
C) proportional stratified sample
D) convenience sample

Accepted Answer

A proportional stratified sample would allow you to select a sample that reflects the exact proportion of males and females in the class, ensuring that the sample is representative of the gender distribution in the class.

Quiz 5: Measuring Variables and Sampling

A major advantage of randomly selecting participants from a population is that

A__________ is the full set of all individuals of interest and is typically hard to assess fully.

In a truly random sample from a population,

Which of the following is NOT a nonrandom sampling technique?

An) _________ is a list of all members of a population.

Although statistics are calculated to represent parameters, we know that there can be a difference between the calculated statistic and population parameters. This difference is called

When using simple random sampling it is suggested that you___________ because it will lead to a more representative sample.

Non-random sampling techniques typically produce _________samples.

Dr. Konrad contacts the registrar at his university to get a complete list of students enrolled. He wants to draw a simple random sample from the entire population. He does this to make sure he is creating a

To study career aspirations among high school students in Alabama, a researcher randomly selects 5% of the state's school districts and gives all the students in each district a survey designed to measure career goals. What sampling procedure is being used here?

Random assignment of participants to the various groups in an experiment

is to as population is to parameter.

A subset of data drawn from the larger population of interest is a

Which of the following nonrandom sampling techniques would be most similar to stratified random sampling?

of participants is done to obtain a representative sample, and ____of the participants is done to improve the experimental design of the study.

Dr. Saucer is in the process of drawing individuals from a population to be included in a sample. This process is called

Jim is conducting a survey to learn about student attitudes toward abortion. He passes out his survey to the first 100 students that enter the cafeteria. What sampling method is Jim using?