Social Research Design Unit 7: Sampling

Overview of the Chapter

    Welcome to Unit 7 of Sociology 201 online.  In this unit of the course, we are going to examine the topic of sampling: the selection of subjects for study in such a way that they will be representative of the population from which they are drawn.

    The discussions and activities of this unit are linked to Chapter 7 of The Practice of Social Research.   To preview the topics contained in Chapter 7, click here.  You can click on any of the major headings for a brief overview of that topic.  You might want to read the overview prior to reading that section of the chapter and/or read the overview after the chapter to make sure you got what you were supposed to get from it.

    Your tasks for completing this first unit of the course are to:

(1) Preview and read Chapter 7,
(2) View the modules provided below, and

Click here for a drill on the sampling failures of the Literary Digest in 1936 and the Gallup Poll in 1948.

Click here for an overview of the major forms of probability sampling.