Quantitative Methods

Designing Your Study

Step Four: The Study Population

Selecting a population

Who are you studying? What larger group, or population, would you like to draw conclusions about? This is called generalizing your findings—connecting the information from your small sample to a larger population.

What defines the study population?

Is your population defined geographically? (e.g. the whole U.S. population? A certain region, state, country, or metropolitan area?) Is you population defined by a specific experience (e.g. People who are in a certain age range, have been to college, are single, have a certain illness, are college students? )

Example: How does racial identity impact the race of a person's husband of wife?

What experience defines this study population?

Married

Is this study Population defined by a specific geographic region?

U.S. Residents

The Study Population is Married Residents of the U.S.

What kind of data is available to analyze your question?

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