Designing a Sample, Research Paper Example

Question

You are the Borough Manager and your Mayor wants to disband the police department for budgetary reasons. The proposal is very controversial and council members would like to conduct a poll of residents on the cons and pros of the issues.

Introduction

As the Borough Manager, it would be my responsibility to supervise al department heads of the department, to prepare the draft budget annually and to research and make recommendations to the council on any topic of interest. In this instance therefore, my objective would be to research on the Mayor’s proposal with a view to determine how the populace in our council’s jurisdiction feel about the proposal.

To do this, I will have to select a precise sample for the study that allows me to pursue maximal causal validity of the study (i.e. to establish whether the proposal is popular or otherwise) and to ensure that the sample allows generalizability to the entire population within the council’s jurisdiction.  A sample is a fraction of the population under study and which helps establish conclusions that are applicable and representative of the larger population from which it has been selected.

While I may seek to have more control over the sample, it will be important that the sample I select be accurately descriptive of the larger population since I cannot conduct a census for the same (i.e. seek the views of the entire population). The results of the study should allow the same results to be used as a benchmark not only of the council’s jurisdiction but any other population such that, the studied sample has cross-population generalizability to many other localities. That will be the main challenge and yet the core objective of the sample selection.

The Population

A population refers to the total number of elements about whom a research study seeks to generalize. The population is the total number of respondents that could be chosen from and from whom a representative sample is derived. As such, the target population in this scenario would be the number of people residing and or working within the council’s jurisdiction. Every member of the council’s expanse has an equal chance of being selected for the study. All businesses, residential areas, premises, organizations, families and establishments within the area under the council’s authority and mandate will constitute the population of the study.

The Sampling Frame

It will be a disappointing engagement to seek for views from all the members of the population and that is why a representative sample of the population becomes important.  Ideally, the sample should be randomly picked in such a way that every member of the populace has an equal chance of being consulted. In another type of study and on another topic, it would be important to subjectively select some representative members of the population whose opinions should, if not must, be included in the study.  This could help in making the study’s findings relevant and informing. Such a study could pick 75% randomly selected elements and 25% non-randomly selected members of the sample.

In our case however, the population will better be selected exclusively on a random basis since each member of the population has an equal right to be heard. Every member of the population is required to pay equal rates of taxes to the council. Each one is and must be considered equal in the eyes of the council. The randomly selected sample will use a sampling frame based on the water usage by individual residents. In water usage, the local water connections database would serve best in handpicking the sample representatives. Alternatively, the water payment database maintained by the council could also constitute a good sampling frame.

The Elements

The water usage database will constitute the best and most objective sampling frame for the study. This is because it will give equal chances to all members of the community (the population) an equal chance of being picked. The elements of the study will thus constitute the residents of the council’s jurisdiction, irrespective of where they reside, their social and economic strata, their political views, their contribution to the economy, they criminal records or any other subjective choice criteria. As long as one resides or works in the area (by virtue of using and paying for the council’s water), they will qualify to be elements of the sample)

Selecting Respondents/Participants

The methods of data collection will be applied only to the choice section of the population represented by the water usage database. That section will be handpicked using a singular probability sampling method. We have four probability sampling methods that we could use, namely, simple random, systematic random stratified random and cluster sampling methods. For this study, the best and exclusive method to be used in selecting the sample is the simple random sampling method. I would simply generate a list of all the people connected to the council’s water supply network and arrange them in an alphabetical order. I will then separate these list into 26 groups each based on the alphabetical letter the surnames begins with. From each list, I will then pick the first member of the list and every tenth name after that until 50 names are attained from each list accumulatively. This will total up to about 1300 respondents who thus constitute the sample of study.

Appropriateness of the Sampling Method

The above detailed sampling method is the most ideal. This is because, it is a probability method that is wholesomely objective and non-biased. That means that each member of the population has an equal, or a non-zero chance to be selected as part of the sample. The lack of systematic bias is very desirable for use in such a quantitative research as this one. The police department serves each member of the community with an equal devotion. Each member funds the council based on a constant set of rules, applicable to all parties despite their economic stratification and variance of the total amount given to the council annually. The police department is equally relevant to all members of the society and that is why it is necessary that each element of the population be given an equal chance of voicing his or her opinion.

This means that we can well generalize the findings to the larger population represented by the sample. Secondly, the method allows me to pick a high number of respondents. With a larger sample, I will be able to bring down the margin of error to an acceptable level if not to eliminate it completely. Finally, the method will help enrich the sample with variant community members. Some of those picked will be robbers, others will be policemen, some will be lobbyists others will be preachers, some will be young others old, some will be wealthy, others poor. In simple terms, the method will give a cross section of the society members much like you will find if a census was conducted.