Research Proposal - Population

It is critical to get a new citable population and this should be the deciding factor for picking your model study, the ease of finding a new citable population. The citation is usually a personal communication, See APA Guidelines.

It seems that the concept of “populations” is difficult for some students for the Research Proposal assignment.

population: A set of elements from which a subset may be drawn (a sample). It is the entire group of people, objects, or events in a category.

So here are a few helpful explanations. Remember the key to a better Research proposal grade is to pick a model study where you will be able to find a new citable population (database) and location. For example:

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1  If your model study is about summer camp in Maine participants,  then you would have to find a different summer camp in any state where you could call and get the “golden number” of their total campers. This would be your new population for your Research Proposal. Then of course you would be able to calculate the sample size based on a 95% margin of error.
 

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2  If your model study is about college students in the midwest,  then you would have to find a different university in any state where you could call or find in a document to get the “golden number” of their total students. NOTE: if the model study had total university students, you could always modify the population to say, the total park and recreation majors of a different university for your population. This would be your new population for your Research Proposal. Then of course you would be able to calculate the sample size based on a 95% margin of error.
 

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3  If your model study is about YMCA after school participants in Minnesota,  then you would have to find a different YMCA where you could call and get the “golden number” of their total YMCA after school participants. This would be your new population for your Research Proposal. Then of course you would be able to calculate the sample size based on a 95% margin of error.

IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT use any population estimate based on an "intercept" or "in-person" methodology from your model study.

Once you have your new citable population, then you will be able to identify your sample which is determined by the margin of error at the +/- 5%.

 

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