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Chapter 6: Surveys and SamplingLearning ObjectivesThe margin of error of a sample is also known as the confidence interval. A confidence interval is a range of scores within which a population parameter is likely to fall.Sample QuestionsLearning ObjectivesSample QuestionsChapter 8: Hypothesis Testing and Inferential StatisticsLearning ObjectivesSample QuestionsLearning ObjectivesSample QuestionsLearning ObjectivesSample QuestionsStudy Guide for PSYC 300 Exam 2Chapter 6: Surveys and SamplingLearning Objectives1. Determine when and why surveys are used in behavioral research.A survey is a series of self-report measures administered either through an interview or a written questionnaire. They are the most widely used method of collecting descriptive information about a group of people. The goal of a survey is to produce a “snapshot” of the opinions, attitudes or behaviors of a group of people at a given time. Because they gather information of a wide variety in a short period of time, they are used extensively by business people, advertisers, and politicians to help them learn what people think, feel or do. 2. Understand the advantages and disadvantages of using interviews versus questionnaires in survey research.Interviews: In person, interviews have the advantage of allowing the researcher to develop a close rapport and sense of trust with the respondent. Disadvantages are that in-person interviews are extremely extensive to conduct and so telephone surveys are now more common. Advantages of telephone interviews are that they provide efficiency and coordination among the interviewers and many surveys can be conducted in one day. Unstructured interviews may provide in-depth information about the particular concerns of someone/group and thus may produce ideas for future research and policy. It is hard however, to train interviewers to ask unbiased questions and to ensure they do so. Structured interviews use fixed-format items and allow better comparison of the responses of participants than the unstructured interview.Questionnaires:Questionnaires are generally cheaper than interviews and may produce more honest responses, as they are anonymous and often issued through the mail. They are also less likely to be influenced by the characteristics of the experimenter. Questionnaire disadvantages are that response rates of general populations aren’t usually very high. Also, people may not answer questions in the order that they are given and the researcher does not know whether or not they have, and this variability can lead to measurement error. 3. Understand how probability sampling is used to ensure that a sample is representative of the population.In probability sampling, procedures are used to ensure that each person in the population has a known chance of being selected to be part of the sample. As a result, the likelihood that the sample is representative of the population is increased, as is the ability to use the sample to draw inferences about the population. The different types of probability sampling are:- Simple Random Sampling: a probabilistic sampling technique in which each person in the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample.- Systematic Random Sampling: a probability sampling technique that involves selecting everynth person from a sampling frame.- Stratified Sampling: a probability sampling technique that involves dividing a sample into subgroups (strata) and then selecting samples from each of these groups.- Cluster Sampling: a probability sampling technique in which a population is divided into groups (clusters) for which there are sampling frames and then some of the clusters are chosen to be sampled. 4. Define sampling bias and understand how it undermines a researcher’s ability to draw conclusions about surveys.Sampling bias is what occurs when a sample is not actually representative of the population because the probability with which members of the population have been selected for participation is not known. It can undermine a researcher’s ability to draw conclusions about surveys because the results obtained to test the research hypothesis may not actually be representative of the population. 5. Determine what statistical procedures are used to report and display data from surveys.The statistical procedures used to report and display data from surveys are frequency distributions, bar charts, grouped frequency distributions, histograms, stem and leaf plots and frequency curves.6. Determine the margin of error of a sample.The margin of error of a sample is also known as the confidence interval. A confidence interval isa range of scores within which a population parameter is likely to fall. Sample Questions1. 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?A scientist might decide to use a survey research design when attempting to capture the currentopinions, attitudes or behaviors of a group of people. The scientist would not be able to learn about a specific individual in the population, only about a population of individuals.2. 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?The descriptive statistics that are most frequently used to analyze quantitative and nominal variables from a survey are central tendency (the point in the distribution around which the data are centered) and dispersion (spread). The measures of central tendency are the mean, the median and the mode. Measures of dispersion are the range, the sum of squares, the variance and the standard deviation. Chapter 7: Naturalistic MethodsLearning Objectives1. Define naturalistic research and understand why it is important.Naturalistic research is research designed to study the behavior of people or animals in their everyday lives. 2. Determine ecological validity and understand why naturalistic designs have it.Ecological validity refers to the extent to which the research conducted in situations that are similar to the everyday life experiences of the participants. Naturalistic designs have it because the people whose behavior is being measured are doing the things they do every day and in some cases, may not even know their behavior is being recorded.3. Understand the advantages and


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UMD PSYC 300 - Exam 2

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