Question

In a study of college search behaviors among the families of college-bound high school students, the search behaviors are very different from family to family. In the situation described, which guideline below best explains why the researcher will use a larger sample size?
A) The greater the variance within the population, the larger the sample should be.
B) The greater the proportion of incidence of the estimate, the larger the sample should be.
C) The smaller the dispersion range, the larger the sample must be.
D) The higher the level of frequency control in the estimate, the larger the sample must be.
E) The greater the number of quotas of interest within a sample, the larger the sample must be.

Answer 1

Answer:

A) The greater the variance within the population, the larger the sample should be.

Explanation:

The variance of a sample mean is inversely proportional to the sample size, that is, the larger the sample size the smaller the variability of the sample. When sample size increases, the range decreases and hence the variance decreases resulting in a more accurate research result with minimal experimental error.

Hence the researcher should employ a large sample size to reduce the variation in the population.