Data Collection & Sampling Flashcards

A company tracks the same 500 consumers' purchasing behavior every quarter for two years. This research design is called a:

Answer: Continuous tracking panel

A continuous tracking panel monitors the same group of individuals repeatedly over time to detect changes in behavior, attitudes, or purchases.

Which of the following is a primary disadvantage of mail surveys compared to online surveys?

Answer: Mail surveys have longer field periods and higher cost per completed response

Mail surveys typically take weeks to collect responses and involve printing/postage costs, resulting in longer timelines and higher per-completed-interview costs than online methods.

In probability sampling, what ensures that every element in the population has a known, nonzero chance of selection?

Answer: Employing a random selection mechanism at every stage

Probability sampling requires a random mechanism at each selection stage so that each population element's probability of inclusion can be calculated and is greater than zero.

A researcher studying teenage social media use recruits initial participants through school contacts, then asks those participants to refer their peers. This exemplifies:

Answer: Snowball sampling

Snowball sampling uses existing study subjects to recruit future subjects through their social networks, making it useful for hard-to-reach or hidden populations.

Which question format is most effective for collecting unbiased data about sensitive topics such as income or illegal behavior?

Answer: Randomized response technique

The randomized response technique uses a random device to determine whether a respondent answers a sensitive or innocuous question, providing privacy and reducing response bias.

What is the primary purpose of conducting a 'pilot test' before full-scale data collection?

Answer: To identify and correct problems with the questionnaire, procedures, and instruments

A pilot test runs the survey or data collection procedure with a small sample to uncover ambiguous questions, technical issues, or procedural flaws before the main study.

When a researcher weights survey data to match known population benchmarks for age, gender, and education, this is done to correct for:

Answer: Sample representativeness issues caused by differential nonresponse

Post-survey weighting adjusts for nonresponse and coverage errors by up-weighting underrepresented groups and down-weighting overrepresented groups to align with population parameters.