Chapter 1.3, Problem 1AC

Applying the Concepts 1–3

American Culture and Drug Abuse

Assume you are a member of a research team and have become increasingly concerned about drug use by professional sports players as one of several factors affecting people’s attitudes toward drug use in general. You set up a plan and conduct a survey on how people believe the American culture (television, movies, magazines, and popular music) influences illegal drug use. Your survey consists of 2250 adults and adolescents from around the country. A consumer group petitions you for more information about your survey. Answer the following questions about your survey.

1. What type of survey did you use (phone, mail, or interview)?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the surveying methods you did not use?

3. What type of scores did you use? Why?

4. Did you use a random method for deciding who would be in your sample?

5. Which of the methods (stratified, systematic, cluster, volunteer, or convenience) did you use?

6. Why was that method more appropriate for this type of data collection?

7. If a convenience sample were obtained consisting of only adolescents, how would the results of the study be affected?