Five hundred women were surveyed as to their feelings about female physicians. The majority responded that they felt more relaxed with a female physician. The survey was an example of a(n) _ sample because it used local hospital patients as survey participants.
A random representational
B probability convenience
C framing
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is B) probability convenience.
This survey is an example of a probability convenience sample because it involves patients who are already receiving care at a local hospital. This group is selected not by random chance, but due to their convenience as they are readily available to be surveyed. A convenience sample is often used when researchers need to quickly gather data from a specific group, but it can result in biases if the sample is not representative of the larger population.
In a probability convenience sample, there is an element of random selection, but the sample is also limited by convenience factors. Here, the survey respondents were selected from a local hospital setting, and although the women may have been chosen based on certain criteria, such as their availability, the survey does not guarantee that each woman in the broader population of women would have been equally likely to participate.
In contrast, a random representational sample would involve randomly selecting individuals from a larger, more diverse population to ensure that the sample accurately represents the views of the entire population of interest, minimizing bias.
A framing sample does not exist in research terminology. However, the term framing in a different context refers to how information or questions are presented in a survey, which could influence participants’ responses, but it is not related to sampling methods.
So, the key point is that probability convenience refers to a sample chosen for its ease of access while still involving some degree of randomness, which is the case here with the hospital patients.