Sampling Case Study
Sampling Case Studies
Case Study 1 on Sampling
Sampling Hispanic Adults by Telephone1
Problem: Researchers wanted to determine how aware adult Hispanics in the San Francisco area are of product warning messages and signs concerning cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, and other consumer products. The researchers needed to contact a sample of them to interview.
A Solution: “Respondents were sampled using…random digit dialing. This procedure…avoids the use of directories with their inherent problem of the exclusion of unlisted numbers while guaranteeing equal probability of selection for all telephone numbers. Such an approach has been used in a number of telephone surveys with Hispanics and has been shown to be not only feasible but also very efficient…
“A household was considered to be eligible if those answering the telephone self-identified as Hispanics. Within a given household, the respondent was selected by asking for the Hispanic resident who had most recently celebrated a birthday and who was between 18 and 65 years of age. Interviews were conducted in the language of preference of the respondent (English or Spanish) by bilingual, bicultural interviewers.”
Your Opinions:
1. Note that using random digit dialing gives all telephone numbers, including unlisted numbers, an equal chance of being dialed. Does this procedure give all adult Hispanics in the San Francisco area an equal chance of being selected for the study? Why or why not?
2. Are there problems with using self-identification as a Hispanic as a criterion for eligibility to participate in the study? Explain your answer.
3. Speculate on why the interviewer asked to speak with the Hispanic resident between 18 and 65 years of age who had most recently celebrated a birthday.
4. Would you be interested in knowing whether some Hispanics who answered the phone refused to be interviewed? Why or why not?
1 Source/ reference: Marín, G. (1994). Self-reported awareness of the presence of product
Case Study 1 on Sampling
Sampling Hispanic Adults by Telephone1
Problem: Researchers wanted to determine how aware adult Hispanics in the San Francisco area are of product warning messages and signs concerning cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, and other consumer products. The researchers needed to contact a sample of them to interview.
A Solution: “Respondents were sampled using…random digit dialing. This procedure…avoids the use of directories with their inherent problem of the exclusion of unlisted numbers while guaranteeing equal probability of selection for all telephone numbers. Such an approach has been used in a number of telephone surveys with Hispanics and has been shown to be not only feasible but also very efficient…
“A household was considered to be eligible if those answering the telephone self-identified as Hispanics. Within a given household, the respondent was selected by asking for the Hispanic resident who had most recently celebrated a birthday and who was between 18 and 65 years of age. Interviews were conducted in the language of preference of the respondent (English or Spanish) by bilingual, bicultural interviewers.”
Your Opinions:
1. Note that using random digit dialing gives all telephone numbers, including unlisted numbers, an equal chance of being dialed. Does this procedure give all adult Hispanics in the San Francisco area an equal chance of being selected for the study? Why or why not?
2. Are there problems with using self-identification as a Hispanic as a criterion for eligibility to participate in the study? Explain your answer.
3. Speculate on why the interviewer asked to speak with the Hispanic resident between 18 and 65 years of age who had most recently celebrated a birthday.
4. Would you be interested in knowing whether some Hispanics who answered the phone refused to be interviewed? Why or why not?
1 Source/ reference: Marín, G. (1994). Self-reported awareness of the presence of product