Chapter Four Exercise Taylor C.

Wade Queens University of Charlotte

Chapter Three Exercise As Wimmer and Dominick (2011) have explained throughout the chapter, one of the most important aspects in credible research is making sure the sample of participants is representative of the entire population. In order to do this, there are many sampling techniques that can be used according to the type of research you are conducting. Types of probability sampling techniques include convenience sampling, purposive sampling, and snowball sampling. Types of nonprobability sampling techniques include simple random sampling, addressed-based sampling, systematic random sampling, stratified sampling, and cluster sampling. These techniques are chosen according to the purpose of the study, the cost of the study, any possible time constraints, and the amount of acceptable error. In research it is important to choose the sampling technique that best fits your type of research in order to reduce error in the results. Mehrabi, Hassan, and Shahkat Ali (2011) conducted a study on a population of nonacademic professional staff at University Putra, Malaysia. The purpose of the study was to further understand the perception of printed media and the Internet to get information by nonacademic professional staff. This study aimed at only examining the perception of non-academic professional staff. Being that this study was not examining every individual from the population, the participants chosen for this study were a qualified volunteer sample. Instead of being chosen randomly from the entire population, they were required to meet the criteria of being a nonacademic professional staff at the university in order to take part in the survey. A systematic sampling method was used to collect the 270 participants, meaning every nth subject that met the criteria was chosen to take part. I believe it would have been more reliable if all qualified subjects were tested, but time constraints and budget issues may have prohibited this. Once the participants were chosen, a self-administered questionnaire was used as a means of collecting data. Prior to the experiment, this questionnaire was pretested on another, smaller, sample of non-academic professionals from the same university. A study by Wobber (1978) examines television viewers perception of the real world, specifically those who watch large quantities of violent material. It is believed that those who are exposed to larger amounts of violence on television are more likely to perceive the real world as more similar to what they see on television compared to those who have only seen small amounts of television. This often creates a paranoia effect among viewers of high violence television, which in a replication study on British viewers was refuted. To begin this study, the Independent Broadcasting Authority carried out an annual survey on attitudes toward broadcasting. With the United Kingdom as their target population, they had to administer the survey properly to assure their sample was representative of the entire population. In order to make this possible, one hundred sampling points were chosen throughout

the United Kingdom. This means the sample was distributed to one hundred different locations, where a sample from each location was chosen. Overall there were a total of 1,113 adults, aged 16 and over who were interviewed in a sample structured within each sex by age groups, social class groups, and working status groups. Being that many of the different areas in the United Kingdom vary depending on age, socioeconomic status, and working status, this grouping was done to ensure the sample represented the population of the entire country. It was also important to make sure that they study be conducted on individuals with televisions. Over 96% of the chosen population had televisions, and their results were analyzed. An entirely separate sample was also used. This sample was selected from electoral registers in the Midlands television franchise area. This sample was chosen because the areas demographics are the closest representation of the nation as a whole. I personally do not believe this sample was representative of the nation as a whole, specifically because they only chose participants who were registered to vote. This can lead to random errors simply because they are only basing their sample off of a list of registered voters. In order to represent the nation as a whole, I believe it is important to include anyone and everyone. Simple random sampling is a technique where each subject, element, event, or unit of the population has an equal chance of being selected (Wimmer and Dominick, 2011, p.95). This type of sampling is more representative of the entire population and would have eliminated any bias or reduced any error within the study. Overall I have learned the importance of sampling and how it can affect your research. If you are looking to generalize your results to an entire population, it is important that your sample is representative of the entire population. This means you have to consider all variables such as sex, socioeconomic status, work status, and age. You should also make sure you include individuals from all areas of the population to prevent biased results. It is also important to pay attention to how participants are chosen, and to be sure they are the best fit for your research. References Davood, M., Musa Abu, H., & Muhamad Sham Shahkat, A. (2011). Perception of university non-academic professional staff towards new media credibility in malaysia. China Media Research, 7, 80-91. Wimmer, R.D., & Dominick, J.R. (2011). Mass media research: An introduction 9th edition. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning .