Representativeness Math Example 4
Follow the full solution, then compare it with the other examples linked below.
Example 4
hardA clinical trial recruits patients from a university hospital. Explain why results may not be representative of the general patient population, and identify at least two characteristics that may differ.
Solution
- 1 University hospital patients: often referred for complex/rare conditions; demographically skewed toward urban, educated populations near the university
- 2 Characteristic 1: disease severity — hospital patients may have more severe cases than average patients in the community
- 3 Characteristic 2: demographics — urban, higher socioeconomic status, near a teaching hospital — may not represent rural or lower-income patients
- 4 Implication: treatment effects found in this sample may not generalize to the broader patient population (limited external validity)
Answer
Hospital sample differs in severity and demographics; results may not generalize to all patients (external validity issue).
External validity asks: do results from this sample generalize to the target population? Convenience samples from specialized settings (university hospitals, prisons, university students) often lack representativeness, limiting the scope of conclusions.
About Representativeness
A sample is representative if its characteristics (distribution of key variables) closely match those of the population it is meant to represent.
Learn more about Representativeness →More Representativeness Examples
Example 1 easy
A city is 60% adults and 40% children. A survey samples 50 adults and 50 children. Is this sample re
Example 2 mediumThe Representativeness Heuristic: A person is described as quiet, enjoys books, and is very detail-o
Example 3 easyA sample of 10 people from a class of 30 is selected. List two methods to ensure the sample is repre