Exam 1: The Where, why, and How of Data Collection

Is there ever a reason why we might prefer to work with a sample rather than with an entire population? Discuss.

One of the most common statistical sampling techniques is convenience sampling.

An open-ended question requires respondents to choose from a short list of choices

Which of the following types of questions provide the respondent with the greatest choice in responding to a question?

A college data base includes the number of people who are enrolled in each class the college offers.This is an example of:

A pharmaceutical company conducts a study where 50 patients are given a drug.They find that 10 percent of patients experience nausea as a side effect.This 10 percent is an example of a parameter.

One of the reasons that managers prefer statistical sampling to nonstatistical sampling is that statistical sampling is generally easier to perform and less expensive.

Some stores and restaurants have "tell us what you think" cards available for customers.Assuming that angry customers are more likely to take the time to fill these out,this is an example of:

Statistics are measures computed from the entire population of data.

A food warehouse manager plans to conduct a check on damaged packages.The warehouse covers a large area and products are spread out over the entire building.Assuming that no products are more likely to have damaged packages than any other,what statistical sampling method would be used to reduce the time and effort required to do the study?

When a survey uses the responses strongly disagree,disagree,neutral,agree,strongly agree,this is an example of:

An accountant has recently prepared a report for a client that contains a variety of graphs and charts.In doing so,she has used descriptive statistical methods.

The human resources department at a major high tech company recently conducted an employee satisfaction survey of 100 of its 3,000 employees.Data were collected on such variables as age,gender,marital status,current salary,level of overall satisfaction on a scale from 1 to 5,number of years with the company,and job title.Which of the following best describes the overall data set that was generated from the study?

An Internet-based or emailed survey is not an alternative method of data collection.

Discuss the steps involved in developing and carrying out a written survey.

When people fail to respond to a survey,the data collection process may suffer from nonresponse bias.

Recently,an analyst in a company's marketing department surveyed customers regarding how often they buy a particular product.One customer indicated that she purchased the product 17 times in the last six months,but the analyst recorded the response as 71 times.This is an example of observer bias.

Possibly the most frequently used nonstatistical sampling procedure is the simple random sample.

Data collected at a fixed point in time are

Suppose a professor collects survey data by passing out surveys in his/her classes,where the population of interest is defined as all students enrolled at that university.This is an example of nonstatistical sampling technique.