Statistical Survey - Essay Example

Statistical Survey Survey is one of the statistical methods of studying variables in a population comprising of many samples. It is a methodology in itself that employs the various methods and techniques of scientific research in acquiring data from the variables under consideration. Surveys are commonly used in social sciences like politics and economics. In essence, survey methodology entails the sampling of a representative sample of individuals from a large population. Some of the most common types of surveys are the opinion polls and marketing research surveys. The opinion polls surveys are aimed at supplementing the interested parties with the thoughts and ideas of their subjects. On the other hand, marketing surveys are meant to supplement factual knowledge about the relevant statistics concerning a market segment of a company (Fowler, 22). Entertainment consumer survey is an example of marketing survey. Since survey entails the studying of a large population, it is not economically logical and professionally rational to obtain information from every individual member of the society. Therefore, survey exercise involves the obtaining of a representative sample from the entire population with the required variables to be considered. These facts on survey concerning the population sample present the question, “What is the appropriate or optimal sample size in a survey that will provide valid and reliable results?” This makes us categorically focus our attention on sample sizes of different classes of surveys (Raghavarao, 134). In this context, entertainment surveys are the research exercises carried out on a population to determine some aspects of entertainment within that population. The main elements of entertainment that can be studies include the likes or dislikes on the various forms of entertainment, the role played by entertainment in people’s lives and the impact of entertainment channels within a given population (Fowler, 34). These statistics can be used to analyze major entertainment concepts like markets and societal impacts of the media. From the results contained in the AIU Library entertainment research database, the study was carried out on a college population. The college has a total number of 12000 students, of which 5000 are female and the rest are male scholars. The survey was carried out by randomly presenting students from different schools with the questioners. A total of 500 questionnaires were filled by the students at the end of the survey. The data from the questionnaires were analyzed and the various presentation techniques were used to depict the patter of the variables under consideration. Some of the variables studied include the preference type of entertainment content to college students and the impact of entertainment in their normal lives (Raghavarao, 54). The results obtained were substantially valid given that the questionnaires were filled by a representative sample of the total student population at the college. The ratio of the sampled students to the whole population gives a firm ground to stand when claiming the validity of the findings. The concerned company can use these findings to influence the entertainment stakeholders on market aspects, and any other body interested with entertainment results. Political surveys are the studies carried out in a nation’s political arena. They are meant to provide an insight into the political climate of any region in the world. The most commonly observed political survey is the election opinion polls (Singer, 65). Opinion polls during campaign and election period serves to depict the political trends in terms of public preferences on the candidates vying for a political position. One example of political survey is the one involving the campaign trails between the two Republicans Romney and Santorum. The survey was conducted in five main republican cities and towns of the Virginia state. All these towns are estimated to have a population of about 15 million people. The statistics obtained were sourced from about 2000 respondents from each town. This makes it a sample size of approximately 10000 people. This sample was a negligible number compared to the total population under the survey. The findings from this survey depicts that from January 12’TH to February 20’Th, Santorum has been gaining over whelming support over his counterpart Romney. The results further indicate that Santorum has gained support from the Republican leaners from the five densely populated areas of Virginia. The survey results from this political survey can be used by the campaigners to convince their supporters on their imminent victory. Based on the findings, Santorum can intensify his campaigns to woe supporters to his side. These results are used to study the trend of party candidacy preference among the various contestants. However, the validity of these findings is questionable based on the issue of sample size in reference to the entire population under consideration. The sample size studied represented a negligible percentage of the entire population; hence the results have little reliability (Singer, 12). One of the general opinion polls found in the people-press involves the aspect of energy and environmental conservation. Energy and pollution has been a major issue in the headlines of the US economic news. There is a relationship between the energy aspect and the pollution vice to the US population (Singer, 69). The main topic of the survey was concerning the public support on the Auto Bailout program rolled out by the US government. The government has increased loans to automobile manufacturing companies in the last three years. The public were asked to comment on this aspect. Samples of about 20000 people were obtained from a population of roughly 1million people from every societal setting like towns and cities. The pools depicted that though there were increased fears at the inception stage on the effect of the program on environmental concerns, the general public is continually giving support to the government. Based on the findings of this survey, the reliability of the results might not be at the required optimal level. This is because the proportion of the sample studied is negligible compared to the whole population. The three different types of surveys depict the relationship between the sample size and the total population under consideration. The larger the fraction between the sample size and the population, the more the reliability level of the findings (Fowler, 67). In the case of the entertainment survey, the users of the information can benefit from them because the findings are more valid. However, the political survey will provide unreliable findings because of the ration between the sample studied and the total population. Entertainment Survey Questions a) What is the preferable mode of entertainment in your life? b) On average, how many hours a day do you listen to the music? c) Do entertainment media have any impact on your life? These questions were presented to 20 individuals within my social environment. They included my friends, family members and class mates. The responses of each question were tabulated as shown in the table below. In the survey paper, the modes of entertainment were numbered form 1-4. 1=radio, 2=television, 3=movies, 4=internet. On the other hand, the responses of concerning the impact of entertainment in life bared the numbers 1 and 2 where 1=yes and 2=no. The number of hours spent on entertainment assumed integral values ranging from 1-10. The 20 respondents were entered as alphabetic characters from A to T. Response Table Question A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T Time spend on entertainment daily? 3 4 7 2 1 5 2 7 3 2 4 5 6 7 2 2 1 4 1 3 Entertainment impact on your life? 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 1 4 5 2 1 3 4 2 3 4 5 2 5 Preferable mode of entertainment 4 3 4 1 3 2 4 2 1 2 3 4 3 3 2 4 2 4 1 2 Scatter Diagram on the variables Line graph on the variables Bar chart on the variables Works Cited Fowler, F. (2008) Survey research methods. London: Sage Publications. Singer , E. (2011). Survey Methodology. California: John Wiley and Sons. Raghavarao, D. (2009). Sample size methodology: Statistical modeling and decision science. New York: Academic Press. Read More