Question 1

The professor of a business statistics class wanted to find out the mean amount of time per week her students spent studying for the class. Among the 50 students in her class, 20% were freshmen, 50% were sophomores and 30% were juniors. She decided to select 2 students randomly from the freshmen, 5 randomly from the sophomores and 3 randomly from the juniors. This is an example of a systematic sample.

Accepted Answer

This is not an example of a systematic sample, but rather a stratified sample since the population was divided into strata (freshmen, sophomores, and juniors) and a sample was taken from each stratum.

Question 2

To estimate the mean number of hours a student at a major university spent in the library, a researcher obtained the list of students from the registrar's office, from which she can select a random sample 200 students. This list is a ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of To estimate the mean number of hours...

Question 3

When participants are allowed to self-select into the sample, you have a nonprobability sample.

Accepted Answer

When participants are allowed to self-select into the sample, it is not a probability sample because the sample composition is not controlled and may not accurately represent the population being studied.

Question 4

The question "How many times have you abused your spouse in the last 6 months?" will most likely result in nonresponse error.

Accepted Answer

The question asked is sensitive and personal, and some people may not be comfortable answering it truthfully. This could lead to nonresponse error, where individuals choose not to respond or provide inaccurate responses.

Question 5

You stand at the main entrance to a departmental store and pick the first 20 customers that enter the store after it has opened its door for business on a single day. This is an example of a systematic sample.

Accepted Answer

This is an example of a convenience sample because the selection of the first 20 customers is based on ease of access and timing, rather than a systematic method of selecting every nth customer.

Question 6

________ results from the failure to collect data on all subjects in the sample.

Accepted Answer

The answer of ________ results from the failure to collect...

Question 7

In a business statistics class students sit randomly without particular preferences. A sample is selected by including everybody who sits in the first row. This is an example of a cluster sample.

Accepted Answer

The sample is selected based on a cluster, which is the group of students sitting in the first row, making it a cluster sample.

Question 8

To gather opinions on the efficacy of U.S. foreign policies, a sample of 50 faculty members is selected from the pool of university professors who have taught political science at the graduate level. This is an example of a judgment sample.

Accepted Answer

A judgment sample is a non-probability sampling method where the researcher selects participants based on their judgment or expertise in the research topic. In this case, the researcher has selected faculty members who have taught political science at the graduate level because they are experts on the topic of U.S. foreign policies.

Question 9

Measurement error can become an ethical issue when a survey sponsor chooses leading questions that guide the responses in a particular direction.

Accepted Answer

When a survey sponsor chooses leading questions, they can sway the response of participants in a particular direction, which can result in an inaccurate representation of the data. This goes against the ethical principles of research, which require honesty, transparency, and a commitment to obtaining accurate information. When survey sponsors intentionally manipulate the data to serve their own agendas, they are behaving unethically, and this can have significant consequences for the individuals and communities affected by this data. Therefore, measurement error can indeed become an ethical issue when sponsors use leading questions to influence response bias.

Question 10

Measurement error can become an ethical issue when an interviewer purposely guides the responses in a particular direction.

Accepted Answer

If an interviewer purposely guides the responses in a particular direction, it can lead to incorrect data and misrepresentation of the responses, which can be considered unethical. It is important to ensure that data is collected objectively and accurately, without any bias or influence from the interviewer.

Question 11

Coverage error can become an ethical issue if a particular group is intentionally excluded from the frame.

Accepted Answer

Excluding a particular group from coverage can be considered unethical as it may perpetuate stereotypes, marginalize the group, and limit their access to information. Therefore, it's important for journalists and media organizations to strive for inclusive coverage that accurately represents all members of society.

Question 12

________ results from the exclusion of certain groups of subjects from a population frame.

Accepted Answer

The answer of ________ results from the exclusion of certain...

Question 13

Systematic samples are less efficient than a stratified sample.

Accepted Answer

Systematic sampling may be less efficient than stratified sampling because it does not ensure that the sample is representative of various subgroups within the population, potentially leading to higher sampling error compared to stratified sampling, which is designed to improve representativeness by including known subgroups.

Question 14

If you randomly select a student from the first row of a business statistics class and then every other fifth student thereafter until you get a sample of 20 students, this is an example of a convenience sample.

Accepted Answer

This is an example of systematic sampling, not convenience sampling, because it involves selecting every nth individual from a list or queue.

Question 15

The only way one can eliminate sampling error is to take the whole population as the sample.

Accepted Answer

Sampling error is a result of selecting a sample from a population instead of examining the entire population. Therefore, the only way to eliminate sampling error is to take the entire population as the sample.

Question 16

The sampling process begins by locating appropriate data sources called ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The sampling process begins by locating appropriate...

Question 17

Measurement error will become an ethical issue when the findings are presented without reference to sample size and margin of error.

Accepted Answer

Measurement error is a common issue in research studies and can affect the accuracy of the findings. However, presenting findings without reference to sample size and margin of error is not an ethical issue, but rather a methodological issue. Ethical issues in research involve topics such as informed consent, confidentiality, and potential harm to participants.

Question 18

An electronic appliance chain gathered customer opinions on their services using the customer feedback forms that are attached to the product registration forms. This is an example of a convenience sample.

Accepted Answer

This is because the sample is not randomly selected, but rather collected from individuals who have already made a purchase and potentially have a vested interest in the product or company.

Question 19

Coverage error results in a ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Coverage error results in a ________....

Question 20

The question "Is your household income last year somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000?" will most likely result in coverage error.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The question "Is your household income last...

Quiz 7: Sampling and Sampling Distributions