Consider the following statistical studies. Which method of data collection woul
ID: 3293620 • Letter: C
Question
Consider the following statistical studies. Which method of data collection would likely be used to collect data for each study? Explain your selection. What is the population of interest?
Would you take a census or use a sampling? Explain. If you would use a sampling, decide what type of sampling technique you would use. Explain your reasoning.
1. A study of the effect of exercise on relieving depression.
2. A study of the success of graduates of a large university in finding a job within one year of graduation.
3. A study of how often people wash their hands in public restrooms.
Explanation / Answer
1. A study of the effect of exercise on relieving depression.:
The population of interest is all of the human race, though the preferrable population will be people of age above 15. Here, sampling should be used for data collection and not census, because, the population size is too large, so it is infeasible to conduct a census study. Here, I would use a stratified sampling, based on stratas defined as countries of the world.
2. A study of the success of graduates of a large university in finding a job within one year of graduation.
Here the population under study is the graduates of the particular university in consideration. Here, because their is just one university under consideration, a complete census study can be done.
3. A study of how often people wash their hands in public restrooms.
Here, the population under study comprises of all the people who use public restrooms. Again, because the population is very large, census is not feasible so sampling should be used for data collection. The sampling technique best suited for this scenario is random sampling.