1. Where do you place yourselves with the terms in Figure 11-1 (sample or population)?

Consider yourselves as potential subjects for a nurse researcher who asks: Is there a difference in the role of social support between female and male college students?

1. Where do you place yourselves with the terms in Figure 11-1 (sample or population)?
2. How can the researcher best ensure “representativeness”?
3. To what target populations might the researcher want to generalize?
4. What are some possible inclusion criteria & exclusion criteria for this study?
5. How can the researcher reduce sampling error and sampling bias?

SAMPLE SOLUTION

I would consider myself as a sample. A sample is a group of subjects that is representative of all eligible subjects. I would be a sample because as a member of the college student population, my response to the researcher’s question is just a representation of how some other students in college would respond.
To ensure representativeness, the researcher has to define and clearly articulate the target population by listing all the necessary attributes or the eligibility criteria for the target population to be included in the study. This is followed by the identification of the accessible population which should have similar characteristics as the target population. Then a sampling frame is developed to facilitate access to the accessible…