Question

6. what are the steps involved in selecting a multi-stage cluster sample of students taking first-year english in u.s. colleges and universities?

Answer 1

To select a multi-stage cluster sample of first-year English students, one must define the population, create clusters of colleges, randomly select clusters, create sub-clusters within the chosen institutions, randomly select sub-clusters, and finally select the individuals within these sub-clusters.

Step-by-step explanation:

Steps Involved in Selecting a Multi-Stage Cluster Sample

To select a multi-stage cluster sample of students taking first-year English in U.S. colleges and universities, follow these steps:

1. Define the population: Identify the complete set of U.S. colleges and universities offering first-year English courses.
2. First-stage clustering: Group the colleges and universities into clusters. Clusters can be based on various characteristics, such as geographical location, size, or type of institution (public, private, community college, etc.).
3. Randomly select clusters: Use a simple random sampling technique to select a number of these clusters for the study.
4. Second-stage clustering: Within each selected college or university, create sub-clusters based on classes or sections of the first-year English course.
5. Randomly select sub-clusters: From each selected college or university, again use simple random sampling to choose specific classes or sections that represent the sub-clusters.
6. Select individuals: Finally, choose all the students within the selected classes or sections to form your sample. Alternatively, a further stage of random sampling could be performed within each sub-cluster if the classes are too large.

Applying the multi-stage cluster sampling method ensures a diverse and representative sample, while also allowing researchers to manage practical constraints, such as time and resources.