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Diagnose the flaw in the researcher's assumption that offering course credit as compensation will prevent volunteer bias. Based on your comprehension of volunteer subject characteristics, explain how the sample may still systematically differ from the student population, and identify which specific characteristics from Rosenthal & Rosnow (1976) are most likely to affect a study focused on social skills.
Case context: A developmental psychologist wants to study the relationship between social media usage and social skills in young adults. To recruit participants, the researcher offers course credit as compensation to anyone in the university subject pool who signs up for the study. The researcher assumes that offering course credit ensures a representative sample of all students in the pool and eliminates volunteer bias.
Question: Diagnose the flaw in the researcher's assumption that offering course credit as compensation will prevent volunteer bias. Based on your comprehension of volunteer subject characteristics, explain how the sample may still systematically differ from the student population, and identify which specific characteristics from Rosenthal & Rosnow (1976) are most likely to affect a study focused on social skills.
Sample answer: The researcher incorrectly assumes that compensation (course credit) eliminates volunteer bias. Even with compensation, volunteers still systematically differ from non-volunteers in predictable ways. In a study on social skills, the volunteer sample is likely to be biased because volunteers are, on average, more sociable and have a greater need for approval. This means the sample will not represent the broader student population's range of social skills or social media habits.
Key points:
- Offering compensation (like course credit) does not eliminate the systematic differences between volunteers and non-volunteers.
- Volunteer participants tend on average to be more sociable, which directly affects a study on social skills.
- Volunteer participants tend on average to have a greater need for approval, which can bias self-reported social skills or behaviors.
Rubric: The student must show comprehension that compensation does not eliminate volunteer bias. They must explain that the sample will still systematically differ from the population. They must specifically identify 'more sociable' and 'greater need for approval' as volunteer characteristics from the context that would bias a study on social skills.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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Diagnose the flaw in the researcher's assumption that offering course credit as compensation will prevent volunteer bias. Based on your comprehension of volunteer subject characteristics, explain how the sample may still systematically differ from the student population, and identify which specific characteristics from Rosenthal & Rosnow (1976) are most likely to affect a study focused on social skills.
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