SYA3300 6
Provide brief responses to the questions below using the sources provided in the uploaded files, DO NOT USE OUTSIDE SOURCES.
Part one
What’s an unrepresentative sample, and what are its consequences for findings and analysis? Provide an example of an unrepresentative sample regarding a study of households in Miami’s Little Haiti.
What have been sampling problems in political polling for U.S. presidential elections? What have been their consequences for election result predictions?
What have been sampling problems in mobile market research?
How can a sample of just 1,000 persons yield meaningful results about the entire U.S. population?
Part two
Define the following terms: population; sample; sample elements; sampling frame; sampling units? How would you apply those terms to a study on housing insecurity in Little Haiti?
Define the following terms: sample generalizability; target population; representative sample; unrepresentative sample? How would you apply those terms to a study on housing insecurity in Miami’s Little Haiti?
What is a census? How is it different from a sample survey? Why is it rarely used in collecting data from a large population? Describe the difference between a census and a sample survey in a study on households in Little Haiti.
What are the following terms: probability sampling; probability of selection; random sampling; simple random sampling; systematic random sampling; cluster sampling; stratified sampling? Describe how you would apply those terms in a study of households in Little Haiti.
What is sampling bias? What are its sources? Why is it a problem (see also “unrepresentative sample”)? Describe an unrepresentative sample of households in Little Haiti.
What are the following terms: nonprobability sampling; availability (convenience) sampling; quota sampling; purposive sampling; snowball sampling? Describe how you would apply those terms in a study of households in Little Haiti.
What is theoretical (conceptual) sampling (which is a type of nonprobability sampling), and when is it used? Describe how you would you theoretical sampling in a study of households in Little Haiti.
What is a “research design for time”? Describe how you would use a “research design for time” in a study of households in Little Haiti.
Part three
You have received funding to conduct an online sample survey research project on housing insecurity among FIU’s approximately 45,000 undergraduate students (which is the study’s population and target population). FIU’s Office of Planning & Institutional Research
(Links to an external site.)
provides you with a digital sampling frame containing the elements (that is, the data for each individual undergraduate student).
You have sufficient funding to conduct an online sample 2,000 undergraduate students. The objective is to obtain a representative sample of undergraduate students. Without going into the practical details, briefly describe conceptually how you could conduct the following kinds of probability samples.
Simple random sample
Systematic random sample
Cluster sample (consider the following spatial clusters of undergraduate students: MMC-oriented students; BBC-oriented students; engineering-campus students; online-oriented students)
Stratified random sampling (consider the following strata: freshman, sophomores, juniors, seniors, part-time, full-time, and miscellaneous)
And how would you apply research ethics principles?
Part four
You want to conduct a survey research project on housing insecurity among FIU’s approximately 45,000 undergraduate students (which is the study’s population and target population), but you do not have funding and do not have access to the data of the Office of Planning & Institutional Research.
Thus you’ll do an exploratory, nonprobability, face-to-face survey of just 100 undergraduate students. Briefly describe how you could conduct the following kinds of very small, nonprobability samples.
Availability sample
Quota sample
Purposive sample
Snowball sample
And how would you apply research ethics principles?
What limitations of such samples would you have to recognize and explicitly communicate?
