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Critique – “Stressors and Strengths among Women Living With HIV/AIDS in New York City”
The sampling strategy applied in a research process should be enough to describe, explain, state, and justify the research process. In this regard, the researcher should adequately explain what they are studying, describe the sample population, and justify the sampling technique used. The ideal sampling method employed in a research process relies heavily on the nature of the research design such as qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. In their research, Simoni and Cooperman (2000) used a nonprobability sample of 373 women drawn from New York City. Their research sought to find the stressing factors and strength factors seen in HIV/AIDS patients in New York City.
In order to meet their objective, the researchers drew their sample largely from African-Americans and Latinos since those are the most affected groups. The research used a nonprobability sample and respondents were interviewed face to face. The sampling method applied enables the reader to draw inferences on the causality of the process (Creswell, 2003). Causality in this respect refers to the relationship between having HIV/AIDS and various stressors and strengths. The researchers were interested in learning how having HIV/AIDS in New York City makes one susceptible to certain stressful factors in addition to the strengths gained from the condition. The non-probability sampling structure was the most appropriate since it enabled the researchers to narrow down to the real people affected by the scourge. Consequently, the results obtained provided an accurate reflection of the relationship between HIV/AIDS and stress.
The sampling structure used by the researcher is also crucial in drawing conclusions about the generalizability of the research. In essence, the researchers wanted to find out the stress factors that affect HIV/AIDS patients in New York City. Also, they sought to identify the strengths of such people as a result of their conditions. Considering the size and nature of New York City, they had to select a sample of the population that is affected by the disease. Their sample of majority African Americans and Latinos provided the best representation of the general population affected by the disease.[“Write my essay for me?” Get help here.]
Among the sample population, it emerged that 59% had been sexually abused while 69% had been physically abused due to their conditions (Simoni & Cooperman, 2000). On the strengths, the majority of the participants registered heightened piety and social support abilities (Simoni & Cooperman, 2000). The sampling design enabled the reader to make statistical inferences from the sample provided. It offers a greater external validity for the research findings. The researcher clearly justified their sampling strategy as the best suited for that population. As a result, the results obtained from the sample were as representative as possible of the general New York City population affected by HIV/AIDS. A good sampling strategy should be able to provide an accurate representation of the general population from the sample.
The researchers used non-probability sampling since the procedures applied in selecting the sample population are easier, faster, and cheaper. Nevertheless, as acknowledged by the authors, the sampling technique was also a source of some limitations which could have slightly affected the results (Simoni & Cooperman, 2000). In selecting the sample units, there is a possibility of bias, and this can lead to distorted results (Creswell, 2003). Additionally, the accuracy and quality of the research largely depended on the interviewing skills of the interviewer. [Need an essay writing service? Find help here.] This could have led to misrepresentations in certain questions. Also, the success on non-probability sampling depends greatly on the researcher’s knowledge of the population. These limitations are crucial since they help to provide information on the challenges that could have been realized in the research. They provide the researcher with an opportunity to conduct better research that is devoid of bases and other inconsistencies. The limitations also help to underscore the fact that a research study is simply meant to be a representation of the general population but cannot be entirely accurate (Creswell, 2003).
In order to address the limitations, the researchers would have opted to use probability sampling technique. In this category, the researchers would select simple random sampling, stratified sampling, or systematic sampling (Creswell, 2003). Stratified random sampling would have been appropriate for the study since it provides a better way of making connections between factors. Ideal sampling was not suitable for this research since it could not be possible to interview all the affected people in New York City. [Click Essay Writer to order your essay]Nevertheless, it should be realized that every sampling structure used comes with its set of limitations. It is only important to select the structure that would yield the most accurate results from the study. Future research on the subject should, therefore, focus on addressing the current limitations while improving the accuracy of the information obtained.
References
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Simoni, J. M., & Cooperman, N. A. (2000). Stressors and strengths among women living with
HIV/AIDS in New York City. AIDS Care, 12(3), 291-297.
