Fluent Essays

Riverside County Human Society Riverside County Humane Society like a lot of nonprofits is being expected to do more (services) with less (funding and donations). In an effort to halt further decline in the quality of its services and to provide better care for the pets at the center, the Membership Committee of the board of directors began making plans for a member/contributor drive. The organized drive was the first of its kind for the local chapter and the committee members wanted it to be as productive as possible. As the plans began to evolve, the committee realized that the organization had only scattered bits and pieces of information about its current members. It did have a list of members and contributors for the last five years that had been compiled by the RCHS staff. In addition, it had access to the results of a survey that had been done by a staff member several years earlier that focused on member usage of shelter facilities and their opinions of shelter services and programs. However, the organization had only sparse knowledge of the profile of its typical member and contributor, why they belonged or contributed, how long they had been associated with the humane society, how the services of the humane society could be improved, and so on. The committee members believed information on these issues was important to the conduct of a successful membership drive, and thus they commissioned research to secure it. Initial contacts with other humane society chapters and interviews with some RCHS staff and board members produced a number of hypotheses regarding who is likely to become a member or contributor, why, how much people are likely to give, and so on. The researchers are interested in examining these hypotheses through an online survey that would be sent via email to current members and contributors receiving the newsletter that is sent via email. Both lists were alphabetical. The contributor list included the amount received from each person or business, but not the number of times the person or business had given during the last five years. The member list showed the number of years each organization or person had belonged. For purposes of the study, all names of businesses or other organizations were deleted and a separate sample was taken from each list. Approximately 1,050 people were on the member list and 300 on the contributor list. The researchers decided to take 120 names from the member list and 50 from the contributor list. They identified those to be sent questionnaires by drawing two random numbers 3 and 5 using a random number table. They then sent questionnaires to the 3rd, 11th, 19th, and so on, person on the member list, and the 5th, 11th, 17th, and so on, person on the contributor list. QUESTIONS 1. What is the sampling frame? 2. Is it a good sampling frame for the target population? Explain. 3. What type of sampling procedure is being used? 4. Can you think of some ways in which the sample could be imSampling The world of probability and nonprobability sampling * Relationship Among the Stages in the Research Process Formulate Problem Design Data Collection Method and Forms Determine Research Design Design Sample and Collect Data Analyze and Interpret the Data Prepare the Research Report The World of Sampling Sample A subset, or some part, of a larger population. Population (universe) Any complete group of entities that share some common set of characteristics. Population Element An individual member of a population. Census An investigation of all the individual elements that make up a population. * Six-Step Procedure for Drawing a Sample Define the Target Population Identify the Sampling Frame Select a Sampling Procedure Determine the Sample Size Select the Sample Elements Collect the Data from the Designated Elements Step 1 Step 2 Step 4 Step 3 Step 5 Step 6 * This is one of many sample source companies. It is big business! Dynata is a popular source for researchers to find a sampling frame. https://www.dynata.com/ See the resource on the course site where a company Schlesinger and Associates also has a sampling service. Read about their offering. A sample is where the researcher collects data for analysis. I always like to say bad sample bad data. It is important to critically think about if you have the best sample source your resource constraints can provide. . It is big business! * Sampling Designs Nonprobability Samples Availability Quota Purposive Snowball Probability Samples Simple Random Systematic Random Stratified Disproportionate Proportionate Cluster 13 See the white paper in resources and the text for definitions. Ultimately, one of the determinants of sample quality is sample size. Samples will be more representative of the population if they are relatively large and selected through… * Why is a larger sample size better. The formula on the next page demonstrates this. Sample Standard Error Let’s see this in practice on the next slide. Sample Standard Error - Example The larger the sample the smaller the sample standard error—meaning the more generalizable the sample will be to the population. However how much sample is enough? Too much sample is a resource drain time and money because acquiring sample is a large part of research costs. In order to determine the appropriate sample size, use the sample size calculator the formula that goes into the calculation are on the slides that follow. Ultimately, one of the determinants of sample quality is sample size. Samples will be more representative of the population if they are relatively large and selected through… * How large should the sample size be—this is a matter of resource constraints and feasibility. Sample size is often a function of time to collect the data and budget so management will sometimes decide how large of a sample is sufficient given these constraints.