Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Target population: Unclear, but presumed to be readers of Parade magazine.
Sampling frame: Persons who know about the telephone survey.
Sampling unit = observation unit: One call. (Although
...
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Target population: Unclear, but presumed to be readers of Parade magazine.
Sampling frame: Persons who know about the telephone survey.
Sampling unit = observation unit: One call. (Although it would also be correct to
consider the sampling unit to be a person. The survey is so badly done that it is
difficult to tell what the units are.)
As noted in Section 1.3, samples that consist only of volunteers are suspect. This is
especially true of surveys in which respondents must pay to participate, as here—
persons willing to pay 75 cents a call are likely to have strong opinions about the
legalization of marijuana, and it is impossible to say whether pro- or anti-legalization
adherents are more likely to call. This survey is utterly worthless for measuring
public opinion because of its call-in format. Other potential biases, such as requiring
a touch-tone telephone, or the sensitive subject matter or the ambiguity of the
wording (what does “as legal as alcoholic beverages” mean?) probably make little
difference because the call-in structure destroys all credibility for the survey by itself.
1.2 Target population: All mutual funds.
Sampling frame: Mutual funds listed in newspaper.
Sampling unit = observation unit: One listing.
As funds are listed alphabetically by company, there is no reason to believe there
will be any selection bias from the sampling frame. There may be undercoverage,
however, if smaller or new funds are not listed in the newspaper.
1.3 Target population: Not specified, but a target population of interest would be
persons who have read the book.
Sampling frame: Persons who visit the website
Sampling unit = observation unit: One review.
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