PSYC-2018: Exam 2
● Week 5 – Chapter 5
○ Sample
■ A sample is a smaller group of individuals drawn from a larger
population to participate in a behavioural science research study. Since
studying an entire population is often impractical, researchers use
samples to gain insights that can be generalized. Sampling techniques
help researchers ensure that their samples are representative of the
population, reducing bias and increasing the validity of the findings.
Representativeness is essential in step 4 of the research process, where
researchers focus on selecting a sample that accurately reflects the
population to produce reliable, generalizable results.
○ Population
■ A population is a large group of interest to a researcher. Populations
are usually huge, and they contain way too many people to measure
and study, such as adolescents, men, women, etc. As a result, the
researcher must use a smaller group of individuals to be able to gather
information, known as a sample. A sample is selected from a
population, and the individuals in the sample are supposed to represent
that population. The goal of the research study would then be to
examine the sample, then generalize the results to the population.
■
■ There are several types of populations:
● Target Population
○ The target population is the group defined by the
researcher’s specific interests. Individuals in a target
population typically share one characteristic, such as
divorced parents or adolescents diagnosed with clinical
depression. These types of populations are not easily
, available, as the researcher would not be able to recruit
most of the adolescents in the world who have clinical
depression. However, the researcher may have access to
local clinics/hospitals where they take care of people
who have this disorder. These patients would be known
as the accessible population, where most researchers
select their samples.
● Accessible Population
○ The accessible population is the specific group of
people that researchers can realistically reach and
include in their study. For example, if a researcher
wants to study college students but only has access to
students at one university, the students at that university
would be the accessible population. This group is a
subset of the larger target population (all college
students, in this case) that the researchers want to
understand. The accessible population is often used to
make the study manageable, but it may not fully
represent the target population, so researchers must be
careful when generalizing the results.
○ It is essential that researchers need to be careful when
applying study results from the sample to the accessible
population and the target population. The study sample
comes from a smaller, reachable group, which might not
fully represent everyone that the researchers want to
understand. So, they should be cautious about saying
the findings apply to everyone and should recognize
that the results might not be the same for the larger
group.
● Week 5 – Chapter 5
○ Sample
■ A sample is a smaller group of individuals drawn from a larger
population to participate in a behavioural science research study. Since
studying an entire population is often impractical, researchers use
samples to gain insights that can be generalized. Sampling techniques
help researchers ensure that their samples are representative of the
population, reducing bias and increasing the validity of the findings.
Representativeness is essential in step 4 of the research process, where
researchers focus on selecting a sample that accurately reflects the
population to produce reliable, generalizable results.
○ Population
■ A population is a large group of interest to a researcher. Populations
are usually huge, and they contain way too many people to measure
and study, such as adolescents, men, women, etc. As a result, the
researcher must use a smaller group of individuals to be able to gather
information, known as a sample. A sample is selected from a
population, and the individuals in the sample are supposed to represent
that population. The goal of the research study would then be to
examine the sample, then generalize the results to the population.
■
■ There are several types of populations:
● Target Population
○ The target population is the group defined by the
researcher’s specific interests. Individuals in a target
population typically share one characteristic, such as
divorced parents or adolescents diagnosed with clinical
depression. These types of populations are not easily
, available, as the researcher would not be able to recruit
most of the adolescents in the world who have clinical
depression. However, the researcher may have access to
local clinics/hospitals where they take care of people
who have this disorder. These patients would be known
as the accessible population, where most researchers
select their samples.
● Accessible Population
○ The accessible population is the specific group of
people that researchers can realistically reach and
include in their study. For example, if a researcher
wants to study college students but only has access to
students at one university, the students at that university
would be the accessible population. This group is a
subset of the larger target population (all college
students, in this case) that the researchers want to
understand. The accessible population is often used to
make the study manageable, but it may not fully
represent the target population, so researchers must be
careful when generalizing the results.
○ It is essential that researchers need to be careful when
applying study results from the sample to the accessible
population and the target population. The study sample
comes from a smaller, reachable group, which might not
fully represent everyone that the researchers want to
understand. So, they should be cautious about saying
the findings apply to everyone and should recognize
that the results might not be the same for the larger
group.
