NURS 3321 module 4 reading
worksheet.
Instructions to the student: The reading worksheets are designed to assist you as you review the
assigned readings in your Grove, Gray, and Burns (2015) textbook for this module. Read the assigned
pages below, and answer the following questions.
Chapter Nine: Examining Populations and Samples in Research
Samples, samples, samples! If you don’t understand the way researchers get their subjects, how will you
know if you can generalize the results to your area or unit? Chapter Nine will help you to unlock the
secrets of examining populations and samples in the research articles you are reading so that they will
make more sense to you.
• What is the difference between sample, sampling, and sampling plan or sampling method?
The sample defines the selected group of people (or elements).
Sampling involves selecting a group of ppl, events, behaviors, or other elements with which to conduct
a study.
A sampling plan or sampling method outlines the strategies used to obtain samples for studies.
There are two major types of sampling plans: probability and non-probability.
• Define the following terms: population, target population, and accessible population.
The population is a particular group of individuals or elements (such as a group of people with Type II
Diabetes) who are the focus of the research.
The target population is a group of individuals who meet a particular set of sampling criteria, such as:
female, 18 years or older, new diagnosis of type II diabetes, not on insulin.
Accessible population: The portion of the target population to which the researcher has reasonable
access. The accessible population might include elements within a country, state, city, hospital,
nursing unit, or primary care clinic...such as the diabetics in a primary care clinic in Arlington, TX.
• Qualitative studies call the people who participate in them , quantitative studies
_subjects are more likely to identify them as _participants .
• What is generalization and why is it important?
©2018 UTA School of 1
Nursing
,Generalization extends the findings from the sample under study to the larger population. The quality
of the study and the consistency of the study's findings with the findings from previous research in this
area influence the extent of the generalization.
©2018 UTA School of 2
Nursing
, • Your book explains the concept of sampling or eligibility criteria. What are inclusion and
exclusion sampling criteria? Why is it important to understand these in a research study
that you are reviewing?
Sampling criteria is a list of characteristics essential for eligibility or membership in the target
population. Sampling criteria may consist of inclusion and exclusion sampling criteria.
The inclusion sampling criteria is the characteristics that the subject or element must possess to be a
part of the target population.
The exclusion sampling criteria is the characteristics that can cause a person or element to be excluded
from the target population.
• Describe representativeness of a sample.
Representativeness means that the sample, the accessible population, and the target population are
alike in as many ways as possible. In quantitative research, you need to evaluate representativeness in
terms of the setting, characteristics of the subjects, and the distribution of values on variables
measured in the study. Researchers who gather data from subjects across a variety of settings have a
more representative sample of the target population than those limiting the study to a single setting.
• What is the difference between random variation and systematic variation in a subject’s
values? If you were a nurse researcher, which one of these do you think you would like
to avoid in your study if possible (because it introduces bias)?
RANDOM VARIATION: The expected difference in values that occurs when different subjects from
the same sample are examined. Avoid it because since the difference is random due to some subjects
will score higher and others will be lower than the average (mean) population value. (Think: IQ
scores...we don't all have the same IQ.) As the sample size increases, random variation decreases,
improving representativeness of the results.
SYSTEMATIC VARIATION (or SYSTEMATIC BIAS): --a serious concern in sampling-- A consequence of
selecting subjects whose measurement values differ in some specific way from those of the general
population. (Think: A study about attitudes about health behaviors. What if we only ask nurses? They
may view this differently than if we just took a sample of adults from the general population.) This
happens because the sample has some sort of common between them and so increasing the sample
size would not have any effect on the systematic variation.
• What are the acceptance and refusal rates in a study? How do you calculate them? Do
all studies publish this information?
o Acceptance rate: the percentage of subjects meeting sampling criteria consenting to participate in
a study
▪ (# accepting participation/ # meeting sampling criteria approached) X 100%
©2018 UTA School of 3
Nursing
worksheet.
Instructions to the student: The reading worksheets are designed to assist you as you review the
assigned readings in your Grove, Gray, and Burns (2015) textbook for this module. Read the assigned
pages below, and answer the following questions.
Chapter Nine: Examining Populations and Samples in Research
Samples, samples, samples! If you don’t understand the way researchers get their subjects, how will you
know if you can generalize the results to your area or unit? Chapter Nine will help you to unlock the
secrets of examining populations and samples in the research articles you are reading so that they will
make more sense to you.
• What is the difference between sample, sampling, and sampling plan or sampling method?
The sample defines the selected group of people (or elements).
Sampling involves selecting a group of ppl, events, behaviors, or other elements with which to conduct
a study.
A sampling plan or sampling method outlines the strategies used to obtain samples for studies.
There are two major types of sampling plans: probability and non-probability.
• Define the following terms: population, target population, and accessible population.
The population is a particular group of individuals or elements (such as a group of people with Type II
Diabetes) who are the focus of the research.
The target population is a group of individuals who meet a particular set of sampling criteria, such as:
female, 18 years or older, new diagnosis of type II diabetes, not on insulin.
Accessible population: The portion of the target population to which the researcher has reasonable
access. The accessible population might include elements within a country, state, city, hospital,
nursing unit, or primary care clinic...such as the diabetics in a primary care clinic in Arlington, TX.
• Qualitative studies call the people who participate in them , quantitative studies
_subjects are more likely to identify them as _participants .
• What is generalization and why is it important?
©2018 UTA School of 1
Nursing
,Generalization extends the findings from the sample under study to the larger population. The quality
of the study and the consistency of the study's findings with the findings from previous research in this
area influence the extent of the generalization.
©2018 UTA School of 2
Nursing
, • Your book explains the concept of sampling or eligibility criteria. What are inclusion and
exclusion sampling criteria? Why is it important to understand these in a research study
that you are reviewing?
Sampling criteria is a list of characteristics essential for eligibility or membership in the target
population. Sampling criteria may consist of inclusion and exclusion sampling criteria.
The inclusion sampling criteria is the characteristics that the subject or element must possess to be a
part of the target population.
The exclusion sampling criteria is the characteristics that can cause a person or element to be excluded
from the target population.
• Describe representativeness of a sample.
Representativeness means that the sample, the accessible population, and the target population are
alike in as many ways as possible. In quantitative research, you need to evaluate representativeness in
terms of the setting, characteristics of the subjects, and the distribution of values on variables
measured in the study. Researchers who gather data from subjects across a variety of settings have a
more representative sample of the target population than those limiting the study to a single setting.
• What is the difference between random variation and systematic variation in a subject’s
values? If you were a nurse researcher, which one of these do you think you would like
to avoid in your study if possible (because it introduces bias)?
RANDOM VARIATION: The expected difference in values that occurs when different subjects from
the same sample are examined. Avoid it because since the difference is random due to some subjects
will score higher and others will be lower than the average (mean) population value. (Think: IQ
scores...we don't all have the same IQ.) As the sample size increases, random variation decreases,
improving representativeness of the results.
SYSTEMATIC VARIATION (or SYSTEMATIC BIAS): --a serious concern in sampling-- A consequence of
selecting subjects whose measurement values differ in some specific way from those of the general
population. (Think: A study about attitudes about health behaviors. What if we only ask nurses? They
may view this differently than if we just took a sample of adults from the general population.) This
happens because the sample has some sort of common between them and so increasing the sample
size would not have any effect on the systematic variation.
• What are the acceptance and refusal rates in a study? How do you calculate them? Do
all studies publish this information?
o Acceptance rate: the percentage of subjects meeting sampling criteria consenting to participate in
a study
▪ (# accepting participation/ # meeting sampling criteria approached) X 100%
©2018 UTA School of 3
Nursing
