sampling strategy and sample size

sampling strategy and sample size

Craft a 4-page paper in which you recommend the sampling strategy and sample size for the attached quantitative research plan. “The Link Between Childhood Bullying in Female Victims and Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome in Early Adulthood” Include a rationale for why that is the best strategy and size for your plan.
Use the following as a framework for your paper: Identify the following
Population
1. Identify and define the population in terms of content, extent, and time
2. Determination of Size, if known, or approximate/estimate size
Sampling
1. Type of sampling
2. How the sample will be drawn
3. Sample size and why this was chosen in relation to population size
HINT. (The determination of the sample size is directly dependent on the value of the standard error and the width of the confidence interval set by the researcher)

The Link Between Childhood Bullying in Female Victims and Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome in Early Adulthood
The study is cross sectional design to better establish a link between childhood bullying in female victims and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in early adulthood. This study is, therefore, comprised of two parts. The first part of the study identifies a sample population of females between the ages of 20 and 25, who experienced traumatic episodes of bullying between the ages of 9 and 12. In this part of the study, the females will participate in a survey in which they are asked to recall their most traumatic bullying experiences at this much earlier age. In the second part of the study, the participants will complete the Impact of Events Scale Revised (IESR). The purpose of the IESR is to determine the posttraumatic reactions to the traumatic bullying experiences.
This study consists of three variables: independent, dependent and controlling variables. The independent variable is the duration of bulling episodes. The dependent variable is duration of the most traumatic episode of bullying recalled and its connection to PTSD. The controlling variable is gender (female). We predict a positive relationship between the two variables.
Since the cohorts will be asked to recall past experiences, this is a retrospective study (Blane, 1996). Limitations associated with retrospective studies have been well-documented (Mantel, 1973). In particular, Collopy (1998) found that retrospective studies in which subjects were asked to recall their use of information systems was inconsistent with actual use and thus, retrospective self-reports can be biased. Coughlin (1990) conducted a review of the literature on the validity of retrospective studies involving subjects recalling previous and remote events. Coughlin (1990) found that while there are significant problems with recall bias and recall inaccuracies, researchers can control bias and inaccuracy in the way that they interview or design questionnaires.
For the purpose of this study, the accuracy and bias of the retrospective self-reports are of no real significance. This study seeks to establish a link between childhood bullying in female victims and PTSD in early adulthood. The main issue is, therefore, the extent to which the early experiences with bullying triggers traumatic responses later on. PTSD patients are known to have no control over their recall and can have recall bias in that they tend to exaggerate recollections of previous traumatic experiences. It is always given that the traumatic experience is often relived and is real, although it can be exaggerated. What is important is that the previous experience was traumatic for the subject and that this previous experience is the trigger for post-traumatic reactions (Corales, 2005).
Therefore, the weaknesses associated with retrospective studies in relation to recall bias and inaccuracies do not impact the validity of this study. This study is not concerned with the accuracy or bias of the subjects’ retrospective self-reports. PTSD is associated with flawed memory, although PTSD patients typically keep their past triggering traumatic experiences alive because they do not have the ability to suppress those memories, and re-experience those episodes involuntarily (Shiromani, Keene, & LeDoux, 2009). This study is only concerned with establishing the original triggering traumatic event and is not concerned with the accuracy of the subject’s memory or the accuracy of the details of that event. This study is only required to establish that the most traumatic experiences of bullying have triggered post-traumatic experiences. Thus, content validity is not necessary for establishing this link (Fitzpatrick, 1983).
Empirical validity, however, is important to this study. In this regard, empirical validity is defined as:
…accurate measurement or prediction of performance, as demonstrated by research. It refers to a test that has more than mere face validity (Corsini, 2002, p. 327).
In other words, empirical validity is achieved if the study is measuring what it purports to measure. This study purports to measure the link between bullying among female victims between the ages of 9 and 12 and the extent to which those experiences trigger symptoms of PTSD in early adulthood. Empirical validity is achieved by sample selection via the independent and control variables and the dependent variable which is supplemented by the IESR measurement. Together this data collection provides valid information relative to the extent to which earlier traumatic bullying experiences trigger PTSD symptoms in early adulthood.
Construct validity is also important to this research study. Construct is described as:
…an attribute, trait, or characteristic that in itself is not directly observable, but can only be inferred by looking at observable behaviors, which are hypothesized to indicate the presence of that construct…If a test were designed to measure the construct…it might have questions relating to the frequency and intensity of these…behaviors. Then a score on this test would be interpreted as indicating the test takers’ standing on this hypothetical construct… (Miller, McIntire, & Lovler, 2011, p. 242).
Construct validity will be ensured by using the IESR. The IESR is a short questionnaire which includes 22 questions with five added to the original Impact of Event Scale to make it more suitable for detecting and complying with the DSM-IV parameters of PTSD (Weiss & Marmar, 1997). The IESR is an appropriate scale for measuring post-traumatic responses to triggering events, particularly responses such as intrusive thinking, nightmares, intrusive feelings and intrusive imagination as well as reliving a traumatic experience, concentration difficulties, and a tendency to be startled easily (Weiss & Marmar, 1997).
There are a number of theories relative to PTSD that focus on its effects on patients, symptoms and behavioral outcomes. Thus, a majority of trauma tests typically correspond with different theories. For example, a number of trauma theorists postulate that traumatic experiences affect changes in the patient’s feelings and perspectives and these changes have a significant role to play in their post-traumatic responses. These theories relate to cognitions related to trauma, but theorists typically differ relative to the particular relevant cognition. For example, Janoff-Bulman created the World Assumptions Scale to measure perceptions of “self-worth and benevolence of the impersonal world” (Foa, Ehlers, Clark, Tolin, & Orsillo, 1999, p. 303). The World Assumptions Scale was developed in relation to the hypothesis that four belief systems are altered following a traumatic episode: self-worth is heightened, perceptions of a benign world, belief that the world lacks meaning and a belief that people cannot be trusted (Foa et al., 1999).
Obviously, construct validity cannot be achieved by using the World Assumptions Scale in this research study. This research study is not concerned with testing the effects of PSTD on patients or how it influences their thoughts or changes their thoughts and feelings. This study seeks to establish that the participants have the symptoms associated wi

 
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