Dear Everyone,
Dr. Yea-Hung Chen will lead class on June 5, focused on sampling. Please address his reflection question in responses on the forum.
-Many thanks,
Maria
Dr. Chen's reflection question:
It is not unusual to encounter epidemiological or medical studies that use a non-probabilistic sampling scheme. For example, many randomized controlled trials use convenience sampling. Identify a research question of interest to you, the population of interest, and a study design you might use to examine the question. Explain how you might incorporate a sampling strategy into the study design (you might, for example, use respondent-driven sampling to initiate a cohort study). Briefly discuss possible logistical/practical advantages and disadvantages to this plan. Finally, discuss whether you think incorporating the sampling strategy might help (1) reduce bias in the estimation of univariate quantities (such as disease prevalence) and (2) reduce bias in the estimation of causal effects.