In the Following Passage, Identifying Sample, Population, Attribute of Interest

question 106

Essay

In the following passage, identifying sample, population, attribute of interest, and the extent to which the claims involved are knowable. Consider carefully the size and diversification of the sample and the extent to which the population differs or may differ from the sample; remember, what's important is that the sample be representative. Do you find any flaw in our professor's reasoning about the usefulness of the survey for her own purposes? Should she believe that the more people who have home offices, the more likely her own will escape attention from the IRS?
A college professor converted one room of her house into a home office and intended to deduct her expenses on her federal income tax return. She wondered how many other college faculty had done the same, thinking that the more who deducted home offices, the less likely her own return would be noticed by the IRS and hence the less likely she would be audited. So she decided to do her own informal survey of her colleagues to see how many of them had home offices. She sent out a questionnaire of three questions to all 1,200 instructors at her campus, and she received 950 responses. (Her promise to share the results of the survey apparently motivated faculty to respond.)
As it turned out, 32 percent of her respondents answered yes to the question, "Do you maintain an office at home?" Half of these also answered yes to the question, "Do you deduct your home office expenses on your federal income tax return?" And 24 percent of the entire group of respondents answered yes to the question, "Is your campus office adequate?"

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Definitions:

Quasi-Experiments

Research designs that attempt to evaluate cause-and-effect relationships but lack the full control or randomization of true experimental designs.

Field Experiments

Research studies conducted in natural settings outside the laboratory to explore the empirical effects of variables.

Correlational Study

A method of research involving the measurement of two or more variables to determine if there is a relationship between them.

Cause And Effect

The relationship between events or things, where one is the result of the other or others.