Research methods for the behavioral sciences 4th edition stangor test bank

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CHAPTER 6

Surveys and Sampling

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1.

Determine when and why surveys are used in behavioral research.

2.

Understand the advantages and disadvantages of using interviews versus questionnaires in survey research.

3.

Understand how probability sampling is used to ensure that a sample is representative of the population.

4.

Define sampling bias and understand how it undermines a researcher’s ability to draw conclusions about surveys.

5.

Determine what statistical procedures are used to report and display data from surveys.

6.

Determine the margin of error of a sample.

ESSAY QUESTIONS 1.

Consider the cases under which a scientist might decide to use a survey research design. What could the scientist learn from this approach, and what would he or she not be able to learn?

2.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using questionnaires, rather than interviews, in survey research?

3.

Define probability sampling, and indicate how three types of probability samples differ. What is the advantage of using probability sampling?

4.

Describe the descriptive statistics that are most frequently used to analyze quantitative and nominal variables from a survey. What techniques are used to graphically display such data?

5.

What is sampling bias? When is it likely to occur, and how does it undermine the ability to draw accurate conclusions from surveys?

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS Ans: Page: Type: LO:

b 107 F 1

1.

Which of the following is a primary goal of descriptive research? a.

Testing a research hypothesis b.

Providing a snapshot of the current state of affairs c.

Collecting information about changes in individuals over time d.

Measuring relationships between variables

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

b 107 F 1

2.

Which of the following is not true about descriptive research? a.

It provides a snapshot of the current state of affairs. b.

It measures relationships between variables. c.

It can be conducted using a survey. d.

It may use probability sampling.

.

Chapter 6: Surveys and Sampling

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 108 F 2

3.

A face-to-face unstructured interview in which a number of people are interviewed at the same time is known as a a. focus group. b. small group interview. c. case study. d. group questionnaire.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 108 F 2

4.

In comparison to interviews, questionnaires are a. less likely to be influenced by the presence of the researcher. b. less likely to produce valid results. c. more likely to result in complete raw data. d. more time consuming.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 109 F 2

5.

When the response rate on a questionnaire is low, a. the conclusions drawn about the population may be incorrect. b. the data are easier to analyze. c. fewer questions should be placed on the questionnaire. d. more questions should be placed on the questionnaire.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

d 109 F 2

6.

A limitation of using questionnaires in survey research is that a. they are usually more expensive than interviews. b. they are less objective than interviews. c. they cannot be used to collect probability samples. d. the questions may not be answered in the expected order.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 110 F 3

7.

In scientific research, sampling refers to which of the following? a.

Selecting which people to study b.

Choosing which of the raw data to analyze c.

Drawing inferences about the population from the sample d.

Choosing which population to sample

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

b 110 A 3

8.

The U.S. Census is known as a census because a. it provides a visual display of the U.S. population. b. it includes the entire U.S. population. c. it is a representative survey. d. it is highly accurate.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

c 110 A 2

9.

An employer is interested in learning about the employees in his company.

He interviews each of his employees, one at a time, using a short interview.

He has conducted which of the following? a.

A stratified sample b.

A cluster sample c.

A census d.

A focus group

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 111 A 3

10.

A telephone book from a large city could be considered a. a sampling frame. b. a simple random sample. c. a systematic random sample. d. a stratified random sample.

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Chapter 6: Surveys and Sampling

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

b 111 A 3

11.

A town in West Virginia needs to choose a jury for a trial. They create slips of paper with the names of each of the adults in the county and place the slips in a large box. They then draw twelve names from the box. What sampling method has been used? a.

Stratified sampling b.

Simple random sampling c.

Convenience sampling d.

Cluster sampling

Ans: Page: Type:

b 111 A

12.

A researcher selects a sample by taking every sixtieth name on the list beginning with the number 3 (i.e., 3, 63, 123, 183). What type of sampling is this? a.

Simple random sampling b.

Systematic random sampling c.

Stratified sampling d.

Cluster sampling

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

d 111 A 3

13.

A university needs to create a sample of students to interview about their perceptions of the campus climate. They find a computerized list of all of the currently registered students and choose every fiftieth name on the list.

What sampling method has been used? a.

Stratified sampling b.

Simple random sampling c.

Convenience sampling d.

Systematic random sampling

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

b 111 F 3

14.

One potential difficulty of systematic random sampling is that a. the procedure is more time consuming than simple random sampling. b. the names on the sampling frame might not be in a random order. c. the likelihood that a person is included in the sample is not known. d. even if done properly, the sample will not be representative.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 111 F 3

15.

Strata refer to a. subgroups of a larger population. b. descriptive statistics describing a sample. c. the population used to draw a snowball sample. d. the raw data from any survey study.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 112 F 3

16.

Oversampling refers to a. choosing individuals from strata in order to provide large enough samples for analysis. b. choosing more individuals to be in the sample than is statistically necessary. c. overestimating the weight of one sample on the population. d. a technique used to control for nonprobability sampling.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

c 112 F 3

17.

A sampling technique in which a population for which there is no sampling frame and is divided into a set of smaller groups for which there are known sampling frames is known as a. stratified sampling. b. snowball sampling. c. cluster sampling. d. convenience sampling.

Chapter 6: Surveys and Sampling

47

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

d 113 F 4

18.

Sampling bias occurs when a. not enough participants are used. b. the sample is taken out of context. c. the sample is representative of the population. d. the probability with which the members of the population have been selected is not known.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

b 113 F 4

19.

Which of the following best describes snowball sampling? a.

A probability sampling technique in which names are drawn randomly from a sampling frame b.

A technique in which some participants are found in the population and they then lead the researcher to other participants in the population. c.

A convenience sample of individuals who are grouped together in one place. d.

A probability sampling technique in which the researcher first picks two members of the population, then four members of the population, then eight members of the population, and so on.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

b 113 F 4

20.

Which of the following is a type of nonprobability sampling? a.

Stratified sampling b.

Snowball sampling c.

Cluster sampling d.

Simple random sampling

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

b 113 F 4

21.

Which of the following represents the major disadvantage of snowball sampling? a.

The standard deviation is not known. b.

There is a likelihood of sampling bias. c.

Questionnaires have to be returned at a higher rate. d.

The respondents may not complete the questionnaires.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

d 113-114 F 4

22.

Which of the following types of samples is most likely to result in sampling bias? a.

Stratified random sampling b.

Systematic random sampling c.

Cluster sampling d.

Convenience sampling

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 114 F 5

23.

The raw data refer to a. the original unanalyzed data. b. the results of final statistical analyses. c. the deleted outliers from a sample. d. the descriptive statistics.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

b 114 F 5

24.

Which of the following is a graphic display of the frequency distribution of a nominal variable? a.

A histogram b.

A bar chart c.

A frequency curve d.

An outlier plot

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Chapter 6: Surveys and Sampling

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

b 116 A 5

25.

Imagine a visual chart that uses bars to represent the frequency of occurrence of individuals in the following categories of height: under 60 inches; 60 to 66 inches; 66 to 72 inches; over 72 inches. This chart would represent a(n) a. grouped frequency distribution. b. histogram. c. bar chart. d. ungrouped frequency distribution.

Ans: Page: LO: F

d 115 5

26.

A statistical table that indicates how many individuals in the sample fall into each set of categories on a quantitative variable is a a. frequency distribution. b. bar chart. c. normal distribution. d. grouped frequency distribution.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

c 116 F 5

27.

A graphic display of a frequency distribution that uses a line rather than bars is called a a. histogram. b. bar chart. c. frequency curve. d. grouped frequency distribution.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

b 116, 118 C 5

28.

An instructor has collected data about the majors of each of the students in her class. Which of the following will be the best method of presenting these data? a.

A mean b.

A stem and leaf plot c.

A variance d.

A standard deviation

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

c 118 F 5

29.

Which of the following refers to numbers that summarize the pattern of scores observed on a measured variable? a.

Central tendencies b.

Normal distributions c.

Descriptive statistics d.

Frequency distributions

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

c 119 C 5

30.

In terms of age, a twelve-year-old college student can probably be considered to be which of the following? a.

A skewed value b.

A modal value c.

An outlier d.

Close to the median

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 119 F 5

31.

The pattern of scores observed on a measured variable is known as the a. distribution. b. normal probability plot. c. mean. d. central tendency.

Chapter 6: Surveys and Sampling

49

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

d 118 F 5

32.

Which of the following descriptive statistics is most influenced by outliers? a.

The median b.

The mode c.

The frequency distribution d.

The mean

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 119 C 5

33.

Which descriptive statistic would best portray the central tendency of the following distribution (1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 1000)? a.

The median b.

The mode c.

The variance d.

The mean

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 120-121 F 5

34.

Which of the following is NOT a measure of dispersion? a.

The median b.

The range c.

The standard deviation d.

The variance

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 121 C 5

35.

Range, mean deviation, sum of squares, variance—which of the following statistics also belongs in this group? a.

Standard deviation b.

Outlier c.

Median d.

Confidence interval

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 122 C 6

36.

A report indicates that a survey is accurate within “plus or minus 1 percent.” This statement refers to which of the following? a.

The margin of error b.

The standard deviation c.

The response rate d.

The sampling plan

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 122 C 3

37.

Which of the following is true about using a mean drawn from a simple random sample to estimate a population mean? a.

The size of the sample has a bigger influence than the size of the population on how accurately the sample describes the population. b.

The size of the population has a bigger influence than the size of the sample on how accurately the sample describes the population. c.

The results will usually be accurate if the population is large. d.

The results will usually be accurate even if the population is small.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

c 122 C 6

38.

The margin of error is most closely related to which of the following statistics? a.

The range b.

The population probability of error c.

The confidence interval d.

The standard deviation

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

c 108 F 2

39.

Which of the following is an advantage of using an unstructured interview? a.

All of the questions have a similar response format. b.

All of the questions are administered in the same time frame. c.

The respondent is able to express his or her true feelings. d.

It is easy to compare the responses of different participants.

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Chapter 6: Surveys and Sampling

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 110 F 3

40.

The entire group of people the researcher is interested in learning about is known as the __________, whereas the group of people that actually participate in the research is known as the __________. a. population; sample b. sample; population c. sampling frame; population d. population; sampling frame

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

d 111 A 3

41.

In a study investigating alcohol use and mood disorders on college campuses, Pam separates the population into different ethnic groups and then uses a computer program to pick ten names at random for each ethnic group. Which sampling technique is Pam using? a.

Response sampling b.

Simple random sampling c.

Snowball sampling d.

Stratified random sampling

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

b 111 F 4

42.

Sampling bias is most likely to occur when a. the representativeness of the sample is high. b. there is no sampling frame available. c. participants guess the research hypothesis. d. the researcher is a member of the population.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

c 114 A 5

43.

Which of the following might be best used to illustrate the gender composition (number of men versus women) at a university? a.

A normal curve b.

A chi-square statistic c.

A frequency distribution d.

A stem and leaf plot

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 119-120 C 5

44.

The measure of central tendency that is most effected by outliers is the a. mean. b. median. c. mode. d. variance.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 119-120 C 5

45.

In a positively skewed sample, a. the mean is greater than the median. b. the mode is greater than the median. c. the mode and the median are equal. d. the mode and the mean are equal.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

c 119 C 5

46.

Here is a distribution of scores from a measure of depression: 3, 7, 9, 9, 9, 11, 13, 20, 27, 30. In this sample the range is _________ and the mode is____________. a.

27; 11 b.

30; 3 c.

27; 9 d.

3; 30

Chapter 6: Surveys and Sampling

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

c 121 C 5

47.

Samples that have a large standard deviation will also have which of the following? a.

A positive skew b.

A negative skew c.

A large variance d.

A small margin of error

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

a 122 F 4

48.

Which of the following is a potential limitation of using probability sampling to predict a population attitude? a.

People may change their attitudes on important topics after the sample is collected. b.

Random samples are generally poor predictors of population characteristics. c.

The population has greater variability than does the sample. d.

Probability samples tend to have extremely high standard deviations.

Ans: Page: Type: LO:

d 123-124 F

499. Randomly-dialed telephone interviews such as the poll conducted by CBS news regarding healthcare issues reported in Chapter 6 can be best described as of which of the following? a.

A census research design. b.

A sampling research design. c.

A probability research design. d.

A descriptive research design.

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