Identify an area of the social sciences you know something about (aging, marriage and the family, crime and criminal justice, social problems, social class, and so on).

Putting Measurement to Work

 

This exercise gives you the opportunity to develop

 

a measurement strategy of your own.

 

1. Identify an area of the social sciences you

 

know something about (aging, marriage and

 

the family, crime and criminal justice, social

 

problems, social class, and so on).

 

2. Identify a concept (e.g., attitudes toward the

 

elderly, marital satisfaction, delinquency,

 

social class) that receives attention in this

 

area and that interests you.

 

3. Describe how you might conceptualize this

 

concept.

 

4. Describe one or more measurement strategies

 

you might use to operationalize this concept.

 

List at least one or more indicators and two

 

or more categories.

 

5. Identify the level of measurement of this

 

concept given the operationalization you

 

suggested. Give support for your answer.

 

6. Discuss the reliability of your measurement

 

strategy. How might you check the reliability

 

of this strategy?

 

7. Discuss the validity of your measurement

 

strategy. How might you check the validity

 

of this strategy?

PART B

 

EXERCISE 5 . 1

 

 

 

Practice Sampling Problems

 

 

 

 

This exercise gives you an opportunity to practice

 

some of the sampling techniques described in the

 

chapter.

 

The following is a list of the states in the

 

United States (abbreviated) and their populations

 

in 2005 to the nearest tenth of a million.

 

 

 

State Population State Population

 

 

 

 

AL 4.5 CO 4.5

 

AK 0.6 CT 3.5

 

AZ 5.5 DE 0.8

 

AR 2.7 FL 17.0

 

CA 35.5 GA 8.6

 

 

 

1. Number the states from 01 to 50, entering

 

the numbers next to the abbreviated name

 

on the list.

 

2. Use the random number table in Appendix E

 

and select enough two-digit numbers to provide

 

a sample of 12 states.Write all the numbers

 

and cross out the ones you don

t use.

 

3. List the 12 states that make it into your

 

random sample.

 

4. Now, if you have easy access to the Internet,

 

locate the

Research Randomizer (http://

 

randomizer.org/) and draw one set of

 

12 numbers from 01 to 50 from it. Then list

 

the 12 states that would make it into your

 

random sample this time.

 

5. This time, take a stratified random sample of

 

10 states, one of which has a population of

 

10 million or more and nine of which have

 

populations of less than 10 million. List the

 

states you chose.

 

6. How might you draw a quota sample of

 

10 states, one of which has a population

 

of 10 million or more and nine of which

 

have populations of less than 10 million?

 

a. Describe one way of doing this.

 

b. Describe, in your own words, the most important

 

differences between the sampling

 

procedures used in Questions 5 and 6a.

Last Completed Projects

topic title academic level Writer delivered

Are you looking for a similar paper or any other quality academic essay? Then look no further. Our research paper writing service is what you require. Our team of experienced writers is on standby to deliver to you an original paper as per your specified instructions with zero plagiarism guaranteed. This is the perfect way you can prepare your own unique academic paper and score the grades you deserve.

Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.

[order_calculator]