Tulane University

In research, a population is the entire, often very large, group of individuals that researchers are interested in studying and drawing conclusions about. Depending on the researcher's goals, a population could be as broad as all human beings or as specific as all American teenagers, children with autism, or professional athletes.

Population

Blair, R. V., Vaccari, M., Doyle-Meyers, L. A., Roy, C. J., Russell-Lodrigue, K., Fahlberg, M., . . . Rappaport, J. (2021). Acute respiratory distress in aged, sars-cov-2–infected african green monkeys but not rhesus macaques. The American Journal of Pathology, 191(2), 274-282. doi:10.1016/j.ajpath.2020.10.016

Acute Respiratory Distress in Aged, SARS-CoV-2–Infected African Green Monkeys but Not Rhesus Macaques

Species & Route of Exposure (Table 1)

A sample is a smaller subset of individuals selected from a larger population of interest. Because it is usually impossible to study every member of a population, researchers measure variables within a sample with the intention of generalizing their findings back to the broader group, ideally using a representative sample that closely resembles the population.

Sample

In the context of psychological research, how is a 'population' defined?

A developmental psychologist is studying the language acquisition skills of children with autism. She observes 50 children with autism at a local clinic. In this research context, what term best describes the entire group of 'all children with autism' that the psychologist ultimately wants to draw conclusions about?

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