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Chapter 4: Problem 30

Online dating A story titled "Personals, Sex Sites Changing the Rules of Love" at www.msnbc.msn.com reported results of a study about online dating by the MSNBC network. The study used online responses of 15,246 people. Of those who responded, three fourths were men and about two thirds had at least a bachelor's degree. One reported finding was that "29\% of men go online intending to cheat." Identify the potential bias in this study that results from a. Sampling bias due to undercoverage b. Sampling bias due to the sampling design c. Response bias

Short Answer

Expert verified
The study may have undercoverage of women, a biased sampling design, and response bias due to sensitive question topics.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Sampling Bias due to Undercoverage

Sampling bias due to undercoverage occurs when some members of the population are inadequately represented in the sample. In this study, the sample is composed of online responses from 15,246 people. Given that three fourths of the respondents were men, women are underrepresented in the sample. This suggests that the study might not adequately reflect the perspectives of women on online dating.
02

Assessing Sampling Bias due to Sampling Design

Sampling bias due to the sampling design happens when the method used to collect the sample does not allow all members of the population a fair chance of being included. In this study, the sample consists only of people who chose to respond online, which may not accurately represent the entire population of individuals involved in online dating. Those without internet access or who do not engage in online activities are excluded from the sample, potentially skewing the findings.
03

Evaluating Response Bias

Response bias is the tendency of subjects to systematically respond to questions in a manner that does not reflect their true thoughts or feelings. In this study, the reported finding that "29% of men go online intending to cheat" might be influenced by response bias, as this is a sensitive topic and not everyone would accurately or truthfully report their intentions. Such bias can lead to overestimation or underestimation of the true percentage.

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Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

Sampling Bias
When collecting data for a study, ensuring that all segments of the population are fairly represented is essential. Sampling bias arises when this balance is not achieved.

One form of sampling bias is undercoverage. This means certain members, or groups, in the population are inadequately represented in the sample. In our online dating study, women were underrepresented, with three fourths of respondents being men. As a result, the findings may not truly reflect women's experiences or thoughts about online dating.

Another way sampling bias can creep in is through the sampling design itself. If the process used to gather data unintentionally excludes certain people, the results can be misleading. Here, only those who participated in the online survey were included. Those who don't use the internet frequently or prefer not to participate in online surveys are automatically left out. This exclusion means that the sample might not represent the broader population's views accurately.
Response Bias
Response bias is another challenge researchers face when analyzing survey results. It happens when respondents systematically answer survey questions in a way that doesn't truthfully represent their thoughts or behaviors.

In the example of the online dating study, the sensitive nature of the question about cheating likely influenced the responses. When asked whether they go online intending to cheat, some participants might have hesitated to admit the truth. Or they might have exaggerated their intentions for various reasons. This type of bias can skew data, leading to an exaggerated perception of the percentage of men who intend to cheat online. To accurately interpret survey results, it's crucial to account for this type of bias and be cautious while considering the findings.
Online Surveys
The rise of technology has made online surveys a popular data collection method. These types of surveys offer rapid collection of responses and can reach a broad audience effortlessly. Yet, they come with their own set of challenges.

One notable concern with online surveys is their accessibility. Not everyone has equal access to the internet. This can exclude significant portions of a population, such as those without stable internet connections. Additionally, individuals who do not frequently use the internet may be overlooked.

Moreover, those who engage with online surveys might have strong opinions about the subject, potentially leading to a representation of only extreme viewpoints. While online surveys are a valuable tool in the modern research toolkit, understanding their limitations and potential sources of bias, such as sampling and response biases, helps in designing more representative and accurate studies.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Sampling your fellow students You are assigned to direct a study on your campus to discover factors that are associated with strong academic performance. You decide to identify 20 students who have perfect GPAs of 4.0 , and then measure explanatory variables for them that you think may be important, such as high school GPA and average amount of time spent studying per day. a. Explain what is wrong with this study design. b. Describe a study design that would provide more useful information.

Hormone therapy and heart disease Since 1976 the Nurses' Health Study has followed more than 100,000 nurses. Every two years, the nurses fill out a questionnaire about their habits and their health. Results from this study indicated that postmenopausal women have a reduced risk of heart disease if they take a hormone replacement drug. a. Suppose the hormone-replacement drug actually has no effect. Identify a potential lurking variable that could explain the results of the observational study. (Hint: Suppose that the women who took the drug tended to be more conscientious about their personal health than those who did not take it.) b. Recently a randomized experiment called the Women's Health Initiative was conducted by the National Institutes of Health to see if hormone therapy is truly helpful. The study, planned to last for eight years, was stopped after five years when analyses showed that women who took hormones had \(30 \%\) more heart attacks. This study suggested that rather than reducing the risk of heart attacks, hormone replacement drugs actually increase the risk. \({ }^{3}\) How is it that two studies could reach such different conclusions? (For attempts to reconcile the studies, see a story by Gina Kolata in The New York Times, April 21, 2003.) c. Explain why randomized experiments, when feasible, are preferable to observational studies.

Margin of error and \(n\) The Gallup poll in Example 6 reported that during March \(2011,60 \%\) of Americans favored offshore drilling as a means of reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. The poll was based on the responses of \(n=1021\) individuals, and resulted in a margin of error of approximately \(3 \%\). Find the approximate margin of error had the poll been based on a sample of size (a) \(n=100,\) (b) \(n=400\), and (c) \(n=1600\). Explain how the margin of error changes as \(n\) increases.

Smoking and lung cancer Refer to the smoking case-control study in Example \(9 .\) Since subjects were not matched according to all possible lurking variables, a cigarette company can argue that this study does not prove a causal link between smoking and lung cancer. Explain this logic, using diet as the lurking variable.

Is a vaccine effective? A vaccine is claimed to be effective in preventing a rare disease that occurs in about one of every 100,000 people. Explain why a randomized clinical trial comparing 100 people who get the vaccine to 100 people who do not get it is unlikely to be worth doing. Explain how you could use a case-control study to investigate the efficacy of the vaccine.
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