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Sampling Methods and Design Flashcards

7 cards from real FAST practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

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  1. A researcher studying job satisfaction surveys employees from three companies — a small startup, a mid-size firm, and a large corporation — drawing proportional samples from each. The strata here are defined by:

    Answer: Company size

    The stratification variable is company size, as participants are grouped and sampled based on the organization's size category.

  2. Which of the following best illustrates the difference between a population and a sample?

    Answer: A population includes all members of interest; a sample is a subset selected from it

    A population is the entire group of interest, while a sample is a smaller subset drawn from that population for study.

  3. A researcher uses past hospital records to identify patients with a disease and compares them to patients without it to study risk factors. This is a:

    Answer: Case-control study

    A case-control study starts with an outcome (disease) and looks backward to identify risk factors by comparing cases to controls.

  4. What is the purpose of pilot testing a survey before full deployment?

    Answer: To identify unclear questions, technical issues, and estimate completion time

    Pilot testing reveals ambiguous questions, instrument problems, and time requirements before the study is fully launched.

  5. In a study tracking cancer recurrence, participants who recover and leave the study are no longer monitored. This introduces:

    Answer: Attrition bias

    Attrition bias occurs when those who drop out of a study differ systematically from those who remain, distorting results.

  6. When a researcher uses quota sampling, the goal is to:

    Answer: Ensure the sample matches the population on key characteristics without random selection

    Quota sampling sets target numbers for subgroups to mirror population characteristics, but selection within quotas is non-random.

  7. A study reports that ice cream sales and drowning rates rise together in summer. The correct interpretation is that:

    Answer: Warm weather is a confounding variable driving both trends

    Hot weather causes both increased ice cream sales and more swimming, making it a classic confounding variable that produces a spurious correlation.