1. Was the sample that Milgram obtained for his study on following authority a representative one? Why or why not? 2. If you were asked to conduct a quantitative study of the hours students taking SOC 331 at all Wilmu campuses spend each week on their homework, how would you construct the study to obtain a representative sample? 3. When the sample is homogeneous, do we need to sample to complete the study? Why or why not? 4. Define each of these sampling methods: simple random sampling, stratified sampling, disproportionate sampling, and cluster sampling. Discuss when researchers might choose each method. 5. Define the following terms: population, population parameter, sampling frame, sampling unit, sample, sample statistics. 6. If you conducted a study of all Wilmu third year students’ attitudes towards obtaining a job in their major field , how would you choose respondents in a way that ensured each member of the population had an equal chance of being selected for the sample group? 1. 7. Using the NY Times AND one other newspaper, such as your local newspaper or USA Today, find two newspaper articles reporting the results of an opinion poll. What information do the articles provide on the sample that was selected? What additional information do you need to determine whether the sample was a representative one? 8. Using an article from your article collection, find one article that discusses the sample chosen for research. Describe how and why the sample was chosen, including any issues related to how the sample was chosen. 9. What is sampling error? How does sample size affect sampling error? Why? Provide an example using a sampling methodology. 10. What are the advantages and disadvantages of probability-based sampling designs and non-probability-based sampling designs? 11. Using a research study example from Chapter 7: The Logic of Sampling in the Babbie book, discuss how research in this chapter completed with a non-probability based design could have been completed with a probability based design .a- Using the same research example, describe the difficulties that might have been encountered in an attempt to use random selection. b-Using the same research example, discuss the degree of confidence you can place in the results obtained from research using a non-probability-based sampling designs. 12. Using your own research question, answer the following: a.-Define the population and sample components b- What is the diversity of your sample population? How do you know this? c. -What kind of sampling method would you use? Why? 13. Provide two examples (one probability sampling method and one non-probability sampling method) of how you could select a sample from a population of 150. If the population of 150 was very diverse in age, race, and ethnicity how might you select the sample? Why? 14. Why might social science research be conducted using probability sampling? (Hint: Focus on the RQ.) 15. Why might social science research be conducted using non-probability sampling?
