Chapter 9 Flashcards

(122 cards)

1
Q

Descriptive Research Methods

A

1) **Quantitative - ** explore objective facts
2) Qualitative - explore subjective meanings

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2
Q

Quantitative Methods (4)

A

1) interviews
2) questionnaires
3) surveys
4) psychological tests
a) psychometric tests
b) projective tests

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3
Q

Quantitative Methods → 1) Interviews

A

gathering facts

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4
Q

Quantitative Methods → 2) Questionnaires

A

anonymously estimate characteristics of population based on sample

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5
Q

Quantitative Methods → 3) Surveys

A

defined by purpose not form

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6
Q

Quantitative Methods → 4) Psychological Tests

A

assess traits of individual

a) Psychometric - examine performance relative to norm (academic ability, personality)
b) Projective - infer characteristics based on reaction to stimuli
* problem - scoring

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7
Q

Qualitative Methods → 1) Qualitative Interview

A

subjective experience

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8
Q

Qualitative Methods → 2) Focus Groups

  • Benefits
A

interview in groups

Benefits:

  • interpersonal dynamics can be examined
  • can interview multiple people at a time
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9
Q

Qualitative Methods → 3) Ethnographic Research

A

cross-cultural investigations

  • examine sub-cultures in mainstream culture
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10
Q

Qualitative Methods → 4) Historical Research

A

examine past events based on historical records

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11
Q

Descriptive Research Methods → Advantages (7)

A

1) Ecological Validity - studies relationships among variables as they naturally occur
2) Economy - cheaper
3) Practical Reasons - more applicable, hard to use exp. method
4) Ethical Reasons
5) Qualitative
6) Correlations
7) Preliminary to Experimental Research

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12
Q

Qualitative Methods (4)

A

1) qualitative interview
2) focus group
3) ethnographic research
4) historical research

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13
Q

Quantitative Methods → 1) Interviews

A

gathering info about people by conversing with them in face-to-face dialogue

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14
Q

Quantitative Methods → 1) Interviews

General Requirements (7)

A

1) Establishment of Rapport
2) Statement of Purpose
3) Detached/Objective Attitude
4) Staying on Topic
5) Careful Wording of Questions
6) Knowing When to End
7) Accurate Record of Interviews

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15
Q

General Requirements of Interviews

1) Establishment of Rapport

A

comfortability, small talk

close/harmonious relationship in which people concerned understand each other’s feelings/ideasandcommunicate well.

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16
Q

General Requirements of Interviews

2) Statement of Purpose

A

main way interviews differ from conversation

articulating the particular goal/theme of interview

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17
Q

General Requirements of Interviews

3) Detached/Objective Attitude

A

midpoint between cold/harsh & personally/emotionally invested or involved

  • attitude conveyed is one that is personable but not personally involved
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18
Q

General Requirements of Interviews

4) Staying on Topic

A

not to stray too much from main theme/topic

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19
Q

General Requirements of Interviews

5) Careful Wording of Questions

A

as clear & unambiguous as possible

(2) types of questions to avoid:
1) Ambiguous - can be interpreted in 2 or more ways (how are you liking your classes?)
2) Loaded - suggests what answer should be (when’s the last time you cheated on a test?)

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20
Q

General Requirements of Interviews

7) Accurate Record of Interviews

A

video or audio recording

  • to record how something is said (tone of voice) & nonverbal gestures (anxious, looking around)
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21
Q

Quantitative

Types of Interviews (4)

A

1) Unstructured Interview
2) Structured Interview
3) Standardized Structured Interview
4) Mixed Question Interview

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22
Q

1) Unstructured Interview

A

interviews in which interviewer provides minimal direction to interviewee

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23
Q

2) Structured Interview

A

interviews with pre-specified:

1) set of topics
2) order of discussion

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24
Q

3) Standardized Structured Interview

A

interviews with pre-specified:

1) wording of questions
2) order of questions

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25
4) **Mixed Question** Interview
interviews using **different** kinds of questions ## Footnote 1) **open**-ended 2) **fixed** option (closed-ended) 3) **rating** scale questions (*diminished benefits of interview style**)*
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**Problems** with Interviews (3)
1) Interviewer **Bias** 2) Interviewee **Dishonesty (Social Desirability)** 3) **Implementation** Costs
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1) **Interviewer** Bias - (2) types
affect amount & quality of info given 1) **personal** bias - *eye contact, personal characteristics, tone of voice* 2) **social/ethnic** bias - *class → age, SES, gender, ethnicity, racial background*
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2) Interviewer **Dishonesty** (**Social Desirability**)
visible presence fosters **social desirability** more than in questionnaires ## Footnote *- choose alternative that is more socially acceptable or desirable*
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3) **Implementation** Costs * (3) types
1) **Training** Costs - *of interviewers* 2) **Travel** Costs - *to interview* 3) **Administration** Costs - *making/cancelling appointments, coordinating etc.*
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**Advantages** of Interviews (5)
1. **know** who person is 2. higher **response** rate- hard to turn down personal request 3. best way to gain **sensitive** info (psych disorders, intrapersonal relationships) 4. **flexibility**- correct misinterpretations 5. monitor **non-verbal behavior** - facial expression, gesture, paraliniguistics, body language
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(5) main steps in designing a **questionnaire**
1) determine **purpose** 2) determine **types** of **questions** 3) write the **items** 4) determine how data will be **analyzed** 5) determine method of **administration**
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1) determine **purpose**
what do i expect to accomplish?
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2) determine **types **of **questions**
**closed-ended - **limits respondents to alternatives determined in advance by questionnaire's design **open-ended - **answer in own words
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3) write the **items** (7) tips on composing good questionnaire items
1) address **single issue** per item 2) avoid **bias** 3) make **alternatives** clear 4) beware of **social desirability tendency** 5) beware of **acquiescence ** 6) determine **format** of item 7) **sequence** items
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1) address single **issue **per item
**unambiguous**, clear not double-barreled
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2) avoid **bias**
write Q in way that will not bias results **example**: * do you beleive in killing unborn babies?* * should women be forced to bear unwanted children?*
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3) make **alternatives **clear
particular need to write closed-ended Qs in a way that **options** are distinctly **different** from each other & they cover all **possibilities** → answers must be **exhaustive **& **mutually exclusive **
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Exhaustive
categories defined so that all possible cases will fall into one of them *all cases must fall into 1 or another of the alternatives*
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Mutually Exclusive
categories defined so that membership in one rules out membership in another ## Footnote * no individual case could belong to more than one category at a time *
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4) beware of **social desirability tendency**
characteristic of certain responses that cause people to choose it even if it does not represent their true tendency/opinion ## Footnote *bias when respondents percieve one alternative as more **socially acceptable** than another*
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What is used to detect **dishonest answers?**
**Verification Key:** set of questions designed to detect **dishonest** & if person has tendency to be overly influenced by **social desirability **
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5) beware of **acquiescence ** what questionnaire format is highly susceptible to this bias?
tendency to agree with statement on a question regardless of its content – (Questionnaire with all **binary closed-ended Qs** are highly susceptible to bias caused by this)
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6) Determine **format **of item
depends on type of question (T/F, MC, ratings) ## Footnote **visual analog scale** **likert scale** **branching items**
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**Visual Analog Scale (VAS) ** - can be used to indicate?
question that askes for response by marking line b/w **min **& **max **values for statement *can be used to indicate respondent's **degree** of **agreement/disagreement** with a particular position*
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Likert Scale
question asking for rating of the **extent of agreement/disagreement **with a statement → a rating scale
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Branching Items
set of Qs that enable respondent to **move through** survey in **different ways depending** upon **responses **
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7) **Sequence** the Items
order of items → answers to Qs may be **biased** if they follow some others start off broad & get more specific to topic of interest ***example: **before asking about campus security, you would want to know if security was even an issue with students *
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4) Determine how **Data** will be **Analyzed**
how questionnaire is to be **scored **& **analyzed ** - decide what **statistics **to use, if you will be able to draw **proper conclusions **from data - if you think certain groups of people may **answer differently** → need Qs to permit **classification** on these **dimensions**
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5) Determine Method of **Administration** (4) modes
1) **Face-to-Face** 2) **Written** Response 3) **Computerized** Administration 4) **Telephone** Administration
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# Define and distinguish between **open-ended** and **closed-ended** questions.
**Open:** answer in own words **Closed**: limits respondents to pre-determined alternatives
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Advantages & Disadvantages of: a) **Open-ended Qs**
**ADVANTAGES**: can answer more **completely**, reveal **reasoning**, more likely to **discover** something **not anticipated** in design **DISADVANTAGES**: **harder to code** b/c answers in **narrative** form, categorize responses **after** (breaks cardinal rule)
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**Advantages** & **Disadvantages** of: b) **Closed-ended** Qs
**ADVANTAGES**: easier to code, fewer off-the-wall answers, dont need to think as hard or be as articulate to formulate **DISADVANTAGES: **issues may be too **complex** to reduce to small set of alternatives, may **not agree** with any, puts **words in mouth**, **misinterpretation** of Q is hard to discover
53
How is the **social desirability tendency** detected?
by using a **verification key - **a set of questions designed to detect **dishonest answers** & if a person has tendency to be overly influenced by **social desirability **
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**Acquiescence** Tendency
tendency to agree with statement on question **regardless** of its content
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Branching Items * advantages
**set of Qs** that enable respondents to **move** through questionnaire in **different ways depending** upon **responses** * can **skip** innapropriate/irrelevant Qs & more through more efficiently
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(4) methods of administrating a questionnaire
1. face-to-face 2. written responses 3. computerized administration 4. telephone administration
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**Advantages** (5) & **Disadvantages** (3) of: **Face-to-Face Administration**
* establish rapport * direct attention to material * motive them to answer carefully * guarantee order of administration * correct misinterpretations * social desirability tendency * expensive * time-consuming
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Advantages & Disadvantages of: Written Responses
* efficient use of time & money * low cost * lower response rate * possible misinterpretation * can't determine seriousnes of respondent
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Advantages & Disadvantages of: **Computerized** Administration
* control sequencing & branching * reduce social desirability * available 24/7 * allow high level of participation without high cost * same problems as written responses * security of responding * storage of survey info must be ensured without violating privacy of respondent
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Advantages & Disadvantages of: Telephone Administration
* low cost * computer-assisted interview * conducted from central location & interviewers can be supervised * reduced external validity →less people with home phones *
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Problems created by **low response rates** to surveys
- data from people **motivated** to respond - **biased** in direction of more vocal people - **quality** of data is direct **function** of **response rate** →researchers need at least **50%** & prefer **90%**
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(4) types of samples
1) **Haphazard** ## Footnote **2) Purposive** **3) Convenience** **4) Probability**
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1) **Haphazard** Sample
popn subgroup selected using hit-or-miss → does not follow any systematic way of selecting participants (
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2) **Purposive** Sample
**non-random** sample chosen for some **characteristic** it possesses *ex) survey opinions of presidents of several leading colleges* *about desirable changes in college curriculum*
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3) **Convenience** Sample
non-random sample chosen for **practical reasons**
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4) **Probability** Sample
sample selected in way as to be **representative** of population - most rely on random sampling - permit one to apply various statistics
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**Random** Sample
sample in which every member of popn has **equal** & **independant** chance of being selected
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Sampling Frame
population as it is defined for purposes of selecting subjects for study ## Footnote *→popn that you work with for particular study*
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Element
**individual member** of a sampling frame
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**Systematic** Sample
**probability** sample that is **not randomly selected**
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Problems using **Systematic Samples**
structure may result in **bias** *taking every n*th *individual* *of structured list may result in bias*
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(3) types of **random samples**
1) **Simple** Random 2) **Stratified** Random 3) **Cluster**
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1) **Simple Random** Sample
group chosen from entire popn such that every member has equal & independant chance of being selected in a single sample
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2) **Stratified** Random Sample
2 or more subsamples are represented according to some predetermined proportion, generally in same proportion as they exist in popn (*treat popn as 2 or more subpopulations & create seperate random sample of each)* *ex) same-sex ratio, age ratio etc.*
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3) **Cluster** Sample
group selected using **clusters/groupings** from larger population *ex) rather than taking 1/10 students of each class, randomly select 1/10 of classes to study*
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**Multistage** Sampling
form of **cluster sampling** in which clusters are further broken down by taking samples from each cluster *ex) selecting one or more highschols within each geographical area* *& then selecting seniors within each*
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Quantitative Methods → 2) **Questionnaire**s
gathering info about people **anonymously** using **standardized** series of Qs
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**Components** of Questionnaire (4)
1) **Preamble** → intro of *purpose* & *instructions* 2) **Identification** Questions→ demographic Qs, background info 3) **Research** Questions → make up data 4) **Branching** Instructions
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**Types** of Questionnaire Items (7)
1) Fixed-Option 2) Rating Scale 3) Yes-No 4) True-False 5) Likert-Scale (Agree-Disagree) 6) Funnel Questions 7) Open-ended Questions
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1) Fixed-Option
Qs with **qualitatively distinct** response alternatives (type/kind)
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2) Rating Scale
Qs with **quantitatively** distinct response alternatives * **3** types
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**(3) types** of Rating-Scale Items
1) **Categorical** → quantitative dimension but response based on adjective **2) Numerical** → represented more explicitly in numerical form **3) Graphical** → for responses on continuum (mark vertical line along horizontal line)
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3) Yes-No
**Binary-choice** Qs on matters of fact
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4) True-False
**Binary decision** Qs on particular theme
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5) Likert-Scale (Agree-Disagree)
Qs on **attitudes** or **opinions**
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6) Funnel Questions
series of related Qs soliciting progressively more detailed information * discourages dishonest answers b/c have to follow-up* * branching items within*
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7) Open-ended Questions
Qs that respondents can a**nswer in their own words**
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Sources of **Questionnaire Bias** (2)
1) **Question** Bias 2) **Response** Bias
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1) **Question** Bias * (4) types
1) Double-barreled 2) Loaded 3) Leading 4) Double Negatives
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1) Double-barreled
items that ask 2 seperate Qs simultaneously
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2) Loaded
items that contain **emotionally charged** or **value-laden** term *"do you feel sleazy magazine should be openly displayed at local newstands?"*
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3) **Leading** Qs
items that tend to **influence responses** in a **certain direction** ## Footnote *do you agree with most federal policy analysts that reducing deficit is our most urgent fiscal priority?*
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4) **Double Negatives**
items that use **2 negative expressions** to convey a **positive idea**
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2) **Response** Bias * (4) types
1) Acquiescence ("Yea-Saying") 2) Dissension ("Nay-Saying") 3) Deviation 4) Social Desirability
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1) Acquiescence ("Yea-Saying") 2) Dissension ("Nay-Saying")
1) tendency to **agree** with items regardless of their content 2) endency to **disagree** with items regardless of their content
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Solution to **Response Bias** caused by **Acquiescence & Dissension**?
Balanced Items ***example:*** * T/F Qs:* * some of my high school friends enjoy reading* * none of my high school friends enjoy reading*
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3) Deviation
tendency to answer items in **extreme way** regardless of their content
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4) Social Desirability
tendency to answer questions in socially acceptable way regardless of correctness of answer
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Solution to Response Bias? (specifically **Deviation** & **Social Desirability**)
**Forced-choice Inventory** ## Footnote Example: ***Choose A or B:*** * ***A:** I like to read in my spare time* * ***B:** I am active in sports* * ***A:** I feel like blaming others when things go wrong* * ***B:** I feel that I am generally inferior to others*
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General tips on **Questionnaire Wording** (5)
1) avoid words with **double meaning** 2) avoid overly **lengthy** questions 3) ask questions **based on respondent's own experience** 4) Design entire questionnaire around **theoretical rationale** 5) **Pre-test** questionnaire on **test sample**
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Quantitative Methods → 3) **Surveys**
administering interview/questionnaire to **sample** of individuals to **estimate characteristic** of population
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Confidence level
**probability** that **true population value** falls **within** **tolerance level **
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Tolerance Level (Precision)
**range of values** within which **true population** **value** **falls** with **specified probability**
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Reasons for Sampling (3)
1) **Feasability → **less expensive/time-consuming 2) **Accuracy → **less errors (people may not answer seriously or misinterpret data) 3) **Unobtrusiveness**
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Sample size determined by? (3)
1) confidence & tolerance levels 2) type of sampling design used 3) variability (increases with increased size)
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Sampling Designs (2)
Probability Sampling Nonprobability Sampling
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Probability vs. Nonprobability sampling
**Probability** →known probability of each person falling in sample →allows for statistical analysis **Nonprobability → **unknown probability of individual being in sample
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Types of Probability Sampling (3)
1) Simple Random 2) Cluster 3) Stratified
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Probability Sampling → 1) **Simple Random**
Sampling such that every member of population has **equal** & **independent** chance of being selected
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Probability Sampling → 2) **Cluster** Sampling
random sampling in (2) phases: * primary selection units (**cluster, groups**) * secondary selection units (**individuals within groups**)
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Probability Sampling → 3) Stratified Sampling
random sampling from **mutually** **exclusive** & **exhaustive** strata in population
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Types of Stratified Sampling (2)
1) Proportional Stratified Sampling 2) Equal Stratified Sampling
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1) Proportional stratified sampling
sample size of each stratum is **proportionate** to population size (each stratum has the same sampling fraction)
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2) **Equal** Stratified Sampling
each strata is determined percentage of sample
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**Haphazard** Sampling
according to who is around
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Purposive Sampling
non-random sample chosen for some characteristic it possesses
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Convenience Sampling
chosen for availability/convenience
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Systematic Sampling
picked in systematic way (violates independance principle)
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Quota Sampling
try to match up characteristics (ex. male vs female)
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Quantitative Methods → (4) Psychological Tests
administering **standardized** **test** to measure sample of individual’s **behavior**
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Psychological Tests - (4) types
1) Aptitude 2) Achievement 3) Personality 4) Projective
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