Is it appropriate to attempt to represent the entire population only by a sample?
When you formulate your answer to this question, it may be useful to come up with an
example of a question from your own field of interest that you may want to investigate.
In the context of this example, you may identify a target population, which you think is suited
for the investigation of the given question.
Answer:
Is it appropriate to attempt to represent the entire population only by a sample?
Using a sample to represent an entire pollution can actually be very appropriate in many
cases, but it also depends on the various factors, such as the research question, the
characteristics of the population, the age of the population, and the sampling methods that
are being used. The goal of sampling is to select a subset of individuals or units that
accurately reflects the characteristics and diversity of the population being studied. For
example I live in Canada and every 5 years or so the federal government does a consensus
to access the proof of age, length of residence in Canada, citizenship or Aboriginal Identity
through the Census. Also, it provides statistical information about gender at birth and
gender identity, type of dwelling, families, households, and marital status, Canadian military
experience, income, language, Indigenous peoples, housing, and last but not least
immigration, place of birth and citizenship, education, labour and commuting as measured
in the Census program. (Government of Canada, 2021). This is one of the big sample that
is used to represent the entire Canadian Population or the population of a country.
Also, some times we have to do a statistical research on a target population for any study. It
involves determining a specific group of individuals or entities to which the study is related.
For example the other day I was doing my own research on teen depression and
unfortunately it turned out that more than 60% of students during the 2020-2021 school year
net the criteria for one or more mental health problems, such as major depression or anxiety
disorder. This is about a 50% increase from the date that was from 2013. (Monroe, 2018). I
will be continuing my research in teen depression because I believe that the teenagers
today need much more help then before because of various factors. 1. Bullying, 2. Social
media (lack of physical social interaction with others), the pandemic, and 3. Genetics. Also,
some times depression and anxiety is also related to other mental health issues like ADHD
and at times Autism that is mainly because of not being able to do things that a non autistic
or non ADHD individual can do and also with these neurological disorders there comes a
very strict routine and if that goes out of context then things go downhill and at times it can
cause major depression especially when all the therapies stopped during the pandemic.
(McDougle, 2018)
References:
Government of Canada, S. C. (2021, November 17). 2021 Census of Population - Data
products. Www12.Statcan.gc.ca.
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-
recensement/2021/dp-pd/index-eng.cfm
