Deck 7: Sampling: Estimating the Frequency of Behaviors and Beliefs

Question 1

If researchers measure every member of a population, they have:

A) conducted a census.
B) collected a sample.
C) increased internal validity.
D) biased the study.

Answer 1

conducted a census.

Question 2

Online surveys commonly suffer from which of the following?

A) Poor reliability
B) Self-selection
C) Probability sampling
D) Over sampling

Answer 2

Self-selection

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT an example of a probability sample?

A) Simple random sample
B) Convenience sample
C) Systematic sample
D) Cluster sample

Answer 3

Convenience sample

Question 4

RESEARCH STUDY 7.1: Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester.He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law and Introduction to Neuroscience.He gives his students a survey. If all the students in Dr.Kramer's two classes complete the survey, then Dr.Kramer has done which of the following?

A) Decreased the external validity of his study
B) Collected too much data
C) Relied on a census
D) Enhanced sampling bias

Question 5

Another term for probability sampling is:

A) purposive sampling.
B) convenience sampling.
C) random sampling.
D) cluster sampling.

Question 6

A sample is to as a population is to .

A) part; entire
B) external; internal
C) people; groups
D) participants; researchers

Question 7

If researchers measure every tenth member of a population, they have:

A) conducted a census.
B) collected a sample.
C) increased internal validity.
D) biased the study.

Question 8

Dr.Chandler is a personality psychologist who is interested in studying the characteristics of people who report being abducted by UFOs.She finds several people in an online support group for UFO abductees to participate and asks them if they can provide the names and contact information of other people who have also been abducted.Upon contacting these new participants, she asks them to refer her to even more people they may know who have been abducted.This is an example of what kind of sampling?

A) Purposive sampling
B) Snowball sampling
C) Convenience sampling
D) Self-selection sampling

Question 9

RESEARCH STUDY 7.1: Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester.He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law and Introduction to Neuroscience.He gives his students a survey. Dr.Kramer needs to avoid which of the following if he hopes to avoid having a biased sample?

A) Sampling only those students who come to class frequently
B) Sampling only those students who agree to complete the survey
C) Sampling only those students who sign the consent form
D) Sampling only those students who finish the survey

Question 10

A biased sample consists of too many cases.

A) basic
B) ideal
C) complicated
D) unusual

Question 11

RESEARCH STUDY 7.1: Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester.He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law and Introduction to Neuroscience.He gives his students a survey. Dr.Kramer plans to give his survey only to his Psychology and Law students because he sees them on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and he can spare the class time (unlike in his Introduction to Neuroscience class, which only meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays).Which of the following is true?

A) This will lead to a biased sample because the type of students who take Psychology and Law may be different from the type of students who take Introduction to Neuroscience.
B) This will lead to a biased sample because of self-selection.
C) This will lead to a biased sample because the Psychology and Law students have a lot of time to complete the survey.
D) The will lead to a sample that is representative of both of his classes.

Question 12

RESEARCH STUDY 7.1: Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester.He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law and Introduction to Neuroscience.He gives his students a survey. What is Dr.Kramer's likely population of interest?

A) All students at the university
B) All psychology majors and minors
C) All students he is currently teaching
D) All students in his Introduction to Neuroscience class

Question 13

Convenience sampling relies on which of the following?

A) Studying people who are easy to find
B) Studying people who are willing to participate
C) Studying people who are typical
D) Studying people who are colleagues of the researcher

Question 14

A sample is always a population.

A) more expensive to measure than
B) smaller than
C) more interesting than
D) more scientific than

Question 15

Why do studies that use probability samples have excellent external validity?

A) They also ensure excellent internal validity.
B) They study every member of the population of interest.
C) They use a larger number of measures.
D) All members of the population are equally likely to be represented in the sample.

Question 16

Having a representative sample is most important in which of the following example claims?

A) "Having a dark triad personality is associated with having greater relationship problems."
B) "Receiving weekly feedback from your supervisor increases work productivity."
C) "People who report knowing someone who has been diagnosed with skin cancer also report having greater sunscreen use."
D) "Forty-three percent of psychology majors report being frustrated by people asking them if they are psychoanalyzing them."

Question 17

RESEARCH STUDY 7.1: Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester.He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law and Introduction to Neuroscience.He gives his students a survey. 43 of 50 Introduction to Neuroscience students and 46 of 48 Psychology and Law students complete the survey.Based on this information, which of the following can Dr.Kramer say?

A) His sample is larger than his population.
B) His sample is representative.
C) His sample is biased.
D) His sample came from his population of interest.

Question 18

Which of the following is true of probability sampling?

A) It is the best way to obtain a representative sample.
B) It is the same as random assignment.
C) It results in larger samples than nonprobability sampling.
D) It should only be used when external validity is not the goal of the study.

Question 19

RESEARCH STUDY 7.1: Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester.He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law and Introduction to Neuroscience.He gives his students a survey. Dr.Kramer could reasonably use his sample to say something about which of the following populations of interest?

A) Students enrolled at the university
B) Students who are political science majors
C) Students who have taken a class with Dr. Kramer
D) Students currently taking a psychology class

Question 20

Dr.Tanaka is an educational psychologist interested in students' attitudes toward science and the effect of those attitudes on performance on standardized tests.He chooses his local school district to study.There are 15 high schools, and he randomly chooses five.Then, of the 2,500 students in each of those five schools, he randomly recruits 250 students.This is an example of which of the following sampling techniques?

A) Snowball sample
B) Systematic sample
C) Multistage sample
D) Cluster sample

Question 21

Dr.Cyril conducts a simple random sample of 500 men who became fathers for the first time in the past year.He finds that 23% of them report being unsure of their ability to be good fathers, plus or minus 4%.What is another term for the 4% value?

A) Margin of error
B) Sampling bias
C) Probability value
D) Statistical significance

Question 22

The difference between a cluster sample and a multistage sample is:

A) cluster samples are probability samples; multistage samples are not.
B) multistage samples sample both clusters and participants; cluster samples just sample clusters.
C) cluster samples rely on clusters of participants; multistage samples collect data from participants at different stages.
D) There is no difference between cluster samples and multistage samples.

Question 23

Which of the following statements is true of random assignment and random sampling?

A) Random assignment is necessary for internal validity, whereas random sampling is necessary for external validity.
B) They both are necessary for frequency claims.
C) They both mean the same thing.
D) Random sampling is more important than random assignment.

Question 24

How are quota sampling and stratified random sampling similar?

A) Both identify subgroups that need to be studied.
B) Both randomly sample subgroups to be studied.
C) Both result in nonrepresentative samples.
D) Both result in representative samples.

Question 25

Which of the following is true of a nonrepresentative sample in a research claim?

A) You should automatically disregard the claim.
B) You should automatically accept the claim.
C) You should ask whether it is relevant to what the researchers are measuring.
D) You should ask whether more participants are necessary.

Question 26

What is the most common sampling technique in behavioral research?

A) Simple random sampling
B) Purposive sampling
C) Cluster sampling
D) Convenience sampling

Question 27

For his research methods class project, Hiro is studying the effect of pet ownership on stress levels.Although a lot of research has been done on dog and cat owners, not much is known about other pets so Hiro decides to study bird owners.Which of the following would demonstrate a snowball sampling technique?

A) He contacts the Twitter followers of Dr. Oiseau, a famous biologist who studies birds.
B) He recruits bird owners by e-mailing members of the National Bird Owners Association and asking for participants.
C) His participants are all the people who have purchased birds at his local pet store in the past 6 months.
D) He asks bird owners to give him the names of other bird owners.

Question 28

External validity is most important for which of the following claims?

A) Frequency claims
B) Association claims
C) Causal claims
D) External validity is equally important for all claims.

Question 29

When you are interrogating the external validity of a sample, which is the most important question to ask?

A) How many people are in the sample?
B) How was the sample collected?
C) How were the participants measured?
D) How many people are in the population?

Question 30

The difference between a cluster sample and a stratified random sample is:

A) cluster samples study all possible clusters; stratified random samples randomly select strata.
B) cluster samples use oversampling; stratified random samples use undersampling.
C) cluster samples use randomly selected clusters; stratified random samples use predetermined strata.
D) There is no difference between cluster samples and stratified random samples.

Question 31

Dr.Cyril conducts a simple random sample of 500 men who became fathers for the first time in the past year.He finds that 23% of them report being unsure of their ability to be good fathers, plus or minus 4%.What does this mean?

A) The true percentage of fathers who feel this way is 23%.
B) If this study was done many times, the estimate of father uncertainty would be 23% about 4% of the time.
C) We can be 4% sure that the estimate of father uncertainty would be 23% of fathers.
D) If the study was done many times, the estimate of father uncertainty would be between 19% and 27%.

Question 32

Oversampling is a variant used in which of the following sampling techniques?

A) Simple random sampling
B) Cluster sampling
C) Convenience sampling
D) Stratified random sampling

Question 33

Which of the following is true of sample size?

A) It primarily affects external validity.
B) It primarily affects construct validity.
C) It primarily affects internal validity.
D) It primarily affects statistical validity.

Question 34

Which of the following does NOT result in a representative sample?

A) Systematic sample
B) Simple random sample
C) Snowball sample
D) Stratified random sample

Question 35

In which of the following cases would a large sample especially be needed?

A) A study of high school students
B) A study of first-time homeowners
C) A study of people who have been to the doctor in the past year
D) A study of teenagers whose parents are both deployed overseas in the military

Question 36

For his research methods class project, Hiro is studying the effect of pet ownership on stress levels.Although a lot of research has been done on dog and cat owners, not much is known about other pets, so Hiro decides to study bird owners.Which of the following would demonstrate a purposive sampling technique?

A) He contacts the Twitter followers of Dr. Oiseau, a famous biologist who studies birds.
B) He recruits bird owners by e-mailing members of the National Bird Owners Association and asking for participants.
C) His participants are all the people who have purchased birds at his local pet store in the past 6 months.
D) He asks bird owners to give him the names of other bird owners.

Question 37

Which of the following is true regarding interrogating frequency claims?

A) Their accuracy can usually be determined.
B) The chief concern is to evaluate the sampling technique.
C) The most important thing to consider is the size of the sample.
D) Frequency claims cannot be interrogated.

Question 38

Which of the following does NOT result in a biased sample?

A) Snowball sample
B) Convenience sample
C) Purposive sample
D) Systematic sample

Question 39

Dr.Cyril conducts a simple random sample of 500 men who became fathers for the first time in the past year.He finds that 23% of them report being unsure of their ability to be good fathers, plus or minus 4%.If Dr.Cyril increased his sample size to 1,000, which of the following would happen?

A) The true estimate would increase.
B) The margin of error would become smaller.
C) External validity would become less important.
D) Statistical validity would become negatively affected.

Question 40

Why are techniques like cluster sampling and multistage sampling just as externally valid as simple random sampling?

A) They all contain elements of random selection.
B) They all measure every member of the population of interest.
C) They all use lists of all population members.
D) They all rely on large samples.

Question 41

Which of the following sampling techniques would you recommend to a researcher interested in studying rare individuals, like people who have been struck by lightning?

A) Snowball sampling
B) Purposive sampling
C) Quota sampling
D) Convenience sampling

Question 42

RESEARCH STUDY 7.2: Dr.Parrett is a sports psychologist for a large Southern university.The provost and chancellor have asked him to examine the relationship between athletic performance and academic stress at the university.For example, is it the case that the most talented athletes experience the greatest concern over their grades? The provost and chancellor have made it clear to Dr.Parrett that they want a large amount of external validity in the study.He has valid and reliable measures of both athletic performance and academic stress.He knows that he does not have the time or the money to study the entire population of interest.
What is the population of interest in Dr.Parrett's study? Will he be collecting a sample or conducting a census? Why does he need to be concerned with external validity/representativeness?

Question 43

Studies that use nonprobability samples have external validity.

A) zero
B) unknown
C) guaranteed
D) enhanced

Question 44

RESEARCH STUDY 7.3: Dr.Dowling is a clinical psychologist who is interested in the link between mental illness and criminal activity.She gets IRB permission to study patients at all five inpatient/residential mental health facilities in her state.There are 4,307 patients currently living in these facilities.She asks patients whether they have ever been arrested for a crime and whether they have ever been convicted of a crime.She collects a sample size of 1,369.She finds that 27% (+/− 3%) report having been arrested for a crime but that only 13% (+/− 3%) have been convicted of a crime.
Name two populations of interest that Dr.Dowling could reasonably generalize her findings to.State which of these two populations her findings would be more generalizable to and explain why that is the case.

Question 45

If a study uses an unrepresentative sample, which of the following questions should you ask when assessing its external validity?

A) "Are the characteristics that make the sample biased actually relevant to what is being measured?"
B) "Is the sample size sufficiently large?"
C) "Is the study making a frequency, association, or causal claim?"
D) "Could the study have used a representative sample instead?"

Question 46

If a sample is biased, then it is the population of interest.

A) unrepresentative of
B) unrelated to
C) incorrectly compared to
D) unfairly applied to

Question 47

Explain why bigger samples are not always better samples.

Question 48

Why might a researcher choose purposive sampling over systematic sampling?

A) Purposive sampling is always cheaper.
B) External validity is not vital to the researcher's study.
C) Only purposive sampling allows the researcher to study a particular type of participant.
D) The researcher does not have to specify a population of interest ahead of time.

Question 49

Which of the following may lead to a biased sample?

A) Using people who accept compensation (e.g., money) to participate
B) Using people who agree to participate
C) Using people who are readily available to the researcher
D) Using people who have participated in other research studies

Question 50

RESEARCH STUDY 7.2: Dr.Parrett is a sports psychologist for a large Southern university.The provost and chancellor have asked him to examine the relationship between athletic performance and academic stress at the university.For example, is it the case that the most talented athletes experience the greatest concern over their grades? The provost and chancellor have made it clear to Dr.Parrett that they want a large amount of external validity in the study.He has valid and reliable measures of both athletic performance and academic stress.He knows that he does not have the time or the money to study the entire population of interest.
Imagine that Dr.Parrett wants to use a nonrepresentative sampling technique.Name the three types of nonprobability sampling and explain how each one could be used by Dr.Parrett.

Question 51

Why is the use of representative samples especially important in frequency claims?

A) Frequency claims require very large samples, and representative samples are always large.
B) It is unethical to make frequency claims without representative samples.
C) It is unlikely that the accuracy of estimates can be checked.
D) Representative samples allow for enhanced internal and external validity.

Question 52

Explain the two reasons nonrandom samples are sometimes acceptable.

Question 53

Research articles that use terms such as "unbiased sample," "random samples," or "representative sample" allow for readers to .

A) skip interrogating statistical validity
B) make a frequency claim
C) reject the conclusions made by the researcher(s)
D) be confident in a study's external validity

Question 54

Which of the following is necessary for a sample to be considered representative?

A) All members of the population must be included in the sample.
B) All members of the population have an equal chance of being included in the sample.
C) All members of the sample belong only to the population of interest.
D) All members of the sample are likely to provide the same data/information.

Question 55

What is the difference between random sampling and random assignment?

Question 56

RESEARCH STUDY 7.2: Dr.Parrett is a sports psychologist for a large Southern university.The provost and chancellor have asked him to examine the relationship between athletic performance and academic stress at the university.For example, is it the case that the most talented athletes experience the greatest concern over their grades? The provost and chancellor have made it clear to Dr.Parrett that they want a large amount of external validity in the study.He has valid and reliable measures of both athletic performance and academic stress.He knows that he does not have the time or the money to study the entire population of interest.
Describe the three sampling problems that could lead to a biased sample for Dr.Parrett.

Question 57

RESEARCH STUDY 7.3: Dr.Dowling is a clinical psychologist who is interested in the link between mental illness and criminal activity.She gets IRB permission to study patients at all five inpatient/residential mental health facilities in her state.There are 4,307 patients currently living in these facilities.She asks patients whether they have ever been arrested for a crime and whether they have ever been convicted of a crime.She collects a sample size of 1,369.She finds that 27% (+/− 3%) report having been arrested for a crime but that only 13% (+/− 3%) have been convicted of a crime.
Choose a representative sampling technique and a biased sampling technique.Explain how Dr.Dowling would implement each of these sampling techniques.

Question 58

What do purposive, convenience, quota, and snowball sampling have in common?

A) They are considered ethical sampling options.
B) They are all probability sampling techniques.
C) They produce large samples.
D) They result in samples where some people are systematically left out.

Question 59

A representative sample is most necessary for which type of claim (frequency, association, or causal)? Why?

Question 60

RESEARCH STUDY 7.2: Dr.Parrett is a sports psychologist for a large Southern university.The provost and chancellor have asked him to examine the relationship between athletic performance and academic stress at the university.For example, is it the case that the most talented athletes experience the greatest concern over their grades? The provost and chancellor have made it clear to Dr.Parrett that they want a large amount of external validity in the study.He has valid and reliable measures of both athletic performance and academic stress.He knows that he does not have the time or the money to study the entire population of interest.
What is the difference between a cluster technique and a multistage technique? Explain why Dr.Parrett would be advised to use a cluster or a multistage technique rather than a simple random sample.

Question 61

RESEARCH STUDY 7.3: Dr.Dowling is a clinical psychologist who is interested in the link between mental illness and criminal activity.She gets IRB permission to study patients at all five inpatient/residential mental health facilities in her state.There are 4,307 patients currently living in these facilities.She asks patients whether they have ever been arrested for a crime and whether they have ever been convicted of a crime.She collects a sample size of 1,369.She finds that 27% (+/- 3%) report having been arrested for a crime but that only 13% (+/- 3%) have been convicted of a crime.
Dr.Dowling is interviewed by a journalist about the findings of her study.The journalist criticizes the sample size as being too small and says that, because of that, the findings do not really have any real-world meaning.How should Dr.Dowling respond?

Question 62

RESEARCH STUDY 7.3: Dr.Dowling is a clinical psychologist who is interested in the link between mental illness and criminal activity.She gets IRB permission to study patients at all five inpatient/residential mental health facilities in her state.There are 4,307 patients currently living in these facilities.She asks patients whether they have ever been arrested for a crime and whether they have ever been convicted of a crime.She collects a sample size of 1,369.She finds that 27% (+/− 3%) report having been arrested for a crime but that only 13% (+/− 3%) have been convicted of a crime.
Dr.Dowling is interviewed by a journalist about the findings of her study.The journalist asks Dr.Dowling how many people live in all five hospitals and Dr.Dowling answers.The journalist replies that given that there are only about 4,000 people, it seems reasonable that Dr.Dowling should have studied the entire population rather than just drawing a sample for her study to really tell us something about people suffering from mental illness.How should Dr.Dowling respond?

Question 63

RESEARCH STUDY 7.3: Dr.Dowling is a clinical psychologist who is interested in the link between mental illness and criminal activity.She gets IRB permission to study patients at all five inpatient/residential mental health facilities in her state.There are 4,307 patients currently living in these facilities.She asks patients whether they have ever been arrested for a crime and whether they have ever been convicted of a crime.She collects a sample size of 1,369.She finds that 27% (+/− 3%) report having been arrested for a crime but that only 13% (+/− 3%) have been convicted of a crime.
Indicate Dr.Dowling's population size, sample size, and population estimate for the two variables along with their margins of error.

Question 64

RESEARCH STUDY 7.3: Dr.Dowling is a clinical psychologist who is interested in the link between mental illness and criminal activity.She gets IRB permission to study patients at all five inpatient/residential mental health facilities in her state.There are 4,307 patients currently living in these facilities.She asks patients whether they have ever been arrested for a crime and whether they have ever been convicted of a crime.She collects a sample size of 1,369.She finds that 27% (+/- 3%) report having been arrested for a crime but that only 13% (+/- 3%) have been convicted of a crime.
Dr.Dowling is interviewed by a journalist about the findings of her study.The journalist asks her to explain what it means that "27% of the sample (+/- 3%) report having been arrested for a crime."

Question 65

Explain why a researcher may wish to choose snowballing sampling over a representative sampling technique.