Deck 4: Data Collection and Sampling

Question 1

A person receives a mail survey and shreds it without opening it. This causes nonresponse error.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A nonsampling error can be caused by the wording of a question.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The response rate of a survey is the proportion of all people who were selected but did not complete the survey.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Experimental data tend to be more reliable, or "stronger," than survey data.

Question 5

Selection bias occurs when researchers select biased questions to include on a survey.

Question 6

When responses are not obtained from some members of the sample, bias is introduced.

Question 7

A question on a survey that was not answered is an example of an open-ended question.

Question 8

"Wouldn't you agree that foreign cars are better than American cars?" is an example of a well-worded survey question.

Question 9

Self-administered surveys usually have a high response rate.

Question 10

A self-selected sample represents the sampled population but not the target population.

Question 11

A self-selected sample is one in which the individuals choose themselves to be in the sample.

Question 12

The target population is the population about which we want to draw inferences and conclusions, while the sampled population is the actual population from which the sample has been taken.

Question 13

The larger the sample size is, the more accurate we can expect our sample estimates to be.

Question 14

A target population and a sampled population mean the same thing.

Question 15

In designing a survey, demographic questions must be avoided.

Question 16

An experiment involves collecting data about persons or objects by deliberately exposing them to some kind of change and comparing the results.

Question 17

A cluster sample occurs when you randomly select groups, and for each group selected, you sample every single member of that group.

Question 18

Self-selected samples have no bias because they are chosen by the people themselves.

Question 19

An observational study involves collecting data about persons or objects by recording information about their selected characteristics of interest.

Question 20

A self-selected sample is the group of individuals who were randomly selected to be in the sample, then agreed to participate in the study.

Question 21

Which of the following data collection methods is not observational?

A) A personal interview.
B) A telephone interview.
C) A self-administered questionnaire.
D) An experiment.

Question 22

Which of the following causes sampling error?

A) Taking a random sample from a population instead of studying the entire population.
B) Making a mistake in the process of collecting the data.
C) Nonresponse bias.
D) All of these choices are true.

Question 23

Which method of data collection is involved when a researcher counts and records the number of students wearing backpacks on campus in a given day?

A) An experiment.
B) A survey.
C) Direct observation.
D) None of these choices.

Question 24

Which of the following must be avoided in designing a survey?

A) Dichotomous questions.
B) Leading questions.
C) Demographic questions.
D) All of these choices are true.

Question 25

To reduce sampling error, minimize the chance for bias to occur during sampling.

Question 26

Nonresponse error occurs when responses are not obtained from some members of the sample.

Question 27

A researcher conducts a study where she divides subjects into two groups, gives each group a certain treatment, and records their responses. What type of data collection is being used here?

A) An experiment.
B) Direct observation.
C) A survey.
D) A census.

Question 28

Which of the following statements is true regarding the design of a good survey?

A) The questions should be kept as short as possible.
B) A mixture of dichotomous, multiple-choice, and open-ended questions may be used.
C) Leading questions must be avoided.
D) All of these choices are true.

Question 29

When every possible sample with the same number of observations is equally likely to be chosen, the result is called a:

A) simple random sample.
B) stratified random sample.
C) cluster sample.
D) biased sample.

Question 30

A marketing research firm selects a random sample of adults and asks them a list of questions regarding their beverage preferences. What type of data collection is involved here?

A) An experiment.
B) A survey.
C) Direct observation.
D) None of these choices.

Question 31

Nonresponse error occurs when someone was not selected to participate in the survey.

Question 32

Sampling error is the result of a mistake made during the sampling process.

Question 33

The personnel director at a large company studied the eating habits of the company's employees. The director watched and recorded whether each employee brought his/her own lunch to work, ate at the company cafeteria, or went out to lunch. What method of data collection was used here?

A) Direct observation.
B) An experiment.
C) A survey.
D) A personal interview.

Question 34

Selection bias is a systematic tendency to favor including individuals with particular characteristics, while excluding individuals with other characteristics.

Question 35

A pharmaceutical company interested in measuring how often physicians prescribe a certain drug has selected a simple random sample from each of two groups: M.D. (Medical Doctors) and D.O. (Osteopaths). What is this type of sampling called?

A) Simple random sampling.
B) Cluster sampling.
C) Stratified random sampling.
D) None of these choices.

Question 36

Sampling error refers to the difference between the sample and the population that exists only because of the observations that happened to be selected for the sample by chance.

Question 37

Cluster samples typically cost less but they also increase sampling error.

Question 38

A simple random sample is chosen in such a fashion that every possible subset of the same size has an equal chance of being selected.

Question 39

The manager of the customer service division of a major consumer electronics company is interested in determining whether the customers who have purchased a videocassette recorder over the past 12 months are satisfied with their products. If there are 4 different brands of videocassette recorders made by the company, the best sampling strategy would be to use a:

A) simple random sample.
B) stratified random sample.
C) cluster sample.
D) self-selected sample.

Question 40

A sampling error can be reduced by taking a larger sample size.

Question 41

In a self-administered survey, the individuals in the sample are typically contacted by ____________________.

Question 42

The ____________________ rate is the proportion of people in the sample who completed the survey.

Question 43

Which of the following types of samples should not be used to make good statistical inferences from a sample to a population?

A) Stratified random samples.
B) Self-selected samples.
C) Cluster samples.
D) All of these choices are true.

Question 44

Which of the following is an example of a nonsampling error?

A) Some incorrect responses are recorded.
B) Responses are not obtained from all members of the sample.
C) Some members of the target population cannot possibly be selected for the sample.
D) All of these choices are true.

Question 45

The Admissions Officer from a large university mailed a survey to 600 students selected at random. The sample was designed to include 150 students randomly selected from each of the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior classes on campus. What sampling method was used?

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

Question 46

Which of the following describes selection bias?

A) A leading question is selected for inclusion in the survey.
B) Some members of the target population are excluded from possible selection for the sample.
C) A person selected for the sample has a biased opinion about the survey.
D) All of these choices are true.

Question 47

Two types of interviews that are used to collect data are ____________________ interviews and ____________________ interviews.

Question 48

When the population is divided into mutually exclusive sets, and then a simple random sample is drawn from each set, this is called:

A) simple random sampling.
B) stratified random sampling.
C) cluster sampling.
D) selection bias.

Question 49

Proper interviewer training helps to reduce ____________________ error.

Question 50

The difference between a sample mean and the population mean is called:

A) nonresponse error.
B) selection bias.
C) sampling error.
D) nonsampling error.

Question 51

In a(n) ____________________ study, there is no attempt to control factors that might influence the variable of interest.

Question 52

In a(n) ____________________ study, individuals are randomly assigned to different treatments and the results are compared.

Question 53

Excluding some members of the target population results in ____________________ bias.

Question 54

____________________ error results from the failure to collect data from all subjects in the sample.

Question 55

Which of the following types of samples is almost always biased?

A) Simple random samples.
B) Stratified random samples.
C) Cluster samples.
D) Self-selected samples.

Question 56

To give away a door prize, the hostess of a Tupperware party put each person's name into a hat, mixed them up, and selected one name. What sampling method was used?

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

Question 57

Which of the following situations lends itself to cluster samples?

A) When it is difficult to develop a complete list of the population members.
B) When the population members are widely dispersed.
C) When selecting and collecting data from a simple random sample is too costly.
D) All of these choices are true.

Question 58

____________________ error refers to differences between the sample and the population.

Question 59

Gender, occupation, and age are all examples of ____________________ variables.

Question 60

A survey is an example of a(n) ____________________ study.

Question 61

Soft Drink: A soft drink manufacturer has been supplying its products in bottles to grocery stores and in cans to small convenience stores. The company is analyzing sales of this product to determine which type of packaging is preferred by customers.
Is this study observational or experimental? Explain.

Question 62

Pollsters want to know what percentage of all registered voters in Missoula, Montana, intend to vote in the next election. They visit with 350 people at the downtown shopping mall during one afternoon and ask each person whether or not they intend to vote. Are the target population and the sampled population the same in this case? Explain.

Question 63

List one advantage and one disadvantage of a personal interview as a method of data collection.

Question 64

Briefly describe three types of nonsampling errors.

Question 65

A(n) ____________________ sample is obtained by separating the population into groups and taking a simple random sample from each group.

Question 66

Soft Drink: A soft drink manufacturer has been supplying its products in bottles to grocery stores and in cans to small convenience stores. The company is analyzing sales of this product to determine which type of packaging is preferred by customers.
Outline a better method for designing this study, so the same types of stores don't get the same types of packaging.

Question 67

Smoking and Heart Attacks: A medical researcher is interested in investigating the relationship between smoking and heart attacks
Briefly describe how the researcher might design an observational study to investigate the relationship between smoking and heart attacks

Question 68

What is meant by a self-selected sample? Why are self-selected samples not desirable?

Question 69

____________________ error is due to mistakes made in the acquisition of data.

Question 70

Discuss one advantage and one disadvantage of a self-administered survey as a method of data collection.

Question 71

Give an example of a poll that involves a self-selected sample.

Question 72

Briefly discuss three methods of conducting a survey of people.

Question 73

Give three important points to consider when designing a questionnaire.

Question 74

____________________ sampling is particularly useful when it is difficult or costly to develop a complete list of the population members.

Question 75

List one advantage and one disadvantage of a telephone interview as a method of data collection.

Question 76

Smoking and Heart Attacks: A medical researcher is interested in investigating the relationship between smoking and heart attacks
How can you show that smoking causes heart attacks without being able to do a designed experiment?

Question 77

The Chairman of a College of Business with five departments wants to estimate the average number of student-hours lost per month due to illness of their professors. Describe a sampling plan that will help the Dean compare the average student-loss hours for the five departments.

Question 78

Smoking and Heart Attacks: A medical researcher is interested in investigating the relationship between smoking and heart attacks
What type of studies are plausible in this particular scenario, observational studies or experiments?

Question 79

Describe the difference between an observational study and an experimental study.

Question 80

A senator wants to estimate the mean age of registered voters in her state. Unfortunately, she does not have a complete list of households in her state. Describe a sampling plan that would be suitable for her purposes.