Population
Entire group we want information about
Census
collects data from every individual in the population
Sample
subset of the population from which we collect data
sample survey
a study that collects data from a sample to learn about the population from which the sample was selected
Conveince Sample
Selecting people from the population that are easier to reach
Bias
A study that is likely over or underestimate the true data
voluntary response sample
Allows people to choose to be in the sample by responding to a general invitation
random sampling
using a chance process to determine which members of a population are included in the sample
simple random sample (SRS)
of size n consists of n individuals from the population chosen in such a way that every set of n individuals has an equal chance to be the sample actually selected
sampling without replacement
an individual can only be selected once
sampling with replacement
an individual from a population can be selected more than once
Strata
Groups of individuals in a population that are similar in some way that might affect their responses.
stratified random sampling
choosing an SRS from each strata combining the SRSs into one overall sample.
cluster
group of individuals in the population that are located near each other
Systematic random sampling
randomly choose one person and survey them and every kth person after them
Cluster sampling
randomly select a cluster and survey everyone in the clusters
Undercoverage
occurs when some groups in the population are left out of the process of choosing the sample
Nonresponse
occurs when an individual chosen for the sample can't be contacted or refuses to participate
response bias
systematic pattern of inaccurate answers to a survey question
observational study
observes individuals and measures variables but does not influence the response
response variable
measures the outcome of a study
explanatory variable
a variable that we think explains or causes changes in the response variable
confounding
When two variables are associated in such a way that their effects on a response variable cannot be distinguished from each other.
Experiment
A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe an outcome
placebo
a treatment that has no active ingredient, but is otherwise like other treatments
treatment
a specific condition applied to the individuals in an experiment
experimental unit
the object to which a treatment is randomly assigned
subject
experimental unit that is a person
factor
a variable that is manipulated and may cause a change in the response variable (usually used when talking about multiple variables)
levels
the specific values that the experimenter chooses for a factor (ex. yes or no, or 10th grade, 11th grade, or 12th grade)
Control group
used to provide a baseline for comparing the effects of other treatments
placebo effect
some subjects will respond to any treatment, even if inactive
double-blind
neither the subject nor person administering experiment knows what treatment the subject is getting.
single-blind
An experiment in which either the subjects or those who interact with them and measure the response variable, but not both, know which treatment a subject received.
random assignment
assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups
control (similar to control group)
keeping other variables constant
replication
giving each treatment to enough experimental units so that a difference in the effects of the treatments can be distinguished from chance variation.
4 principles of experimental design
Comparison
Random Assignment
Control
Replication
Completely randomized design
units are assigned to treatments completely at random
Block
a group of experimental units that are known before the experiment to be similar in some way that is expected to affect the response to the treatments
Randomized block design
random assignment is carried out within each block
Matched pairs design
experimental design that uses blocks of size of two
sampling variability
The fact that different random samples of the same size from the same population produce different estimates
statistically significant
an observed effect so large that it would rarely occur by chance
Experiment - causation Sample/survey - inference
what shows causation and what allows inferences