Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 6.8. A report sample
If you don't know what the abbreviation “SRP” represents, make sure you have the par-
ticipant clarify it for you—never make assumptions or suppositions. Doing so can waste
valuable time and effort later in the process if your assumption or supposition proves to be
incorrect.
As you compose descriptions for each of the samples, you might find it difficult to write a
description for a
complex
sample. A sample is complex if it represents more than one sub-
ject. The sample in
Figure 6.8
, for example, covers only one subject: products. The sample
in
Figure 6.9
,however,covers at least three subjects: doctor services, nursingservices, and
patients. You'll often have to work a little harder to determine a complex sample's purpose
and use. In some cases, you'll have to use the Subject-Identification Technique to determ-
ine what subjects are represented.
Let's say you're working with the report sample shown in
Figure 6.9
and you have ques-
tions regarding the nursing services. You wonder whether the organization is using this re-
port as an indirect means of maintaining a current list of nursing services. A question that
elicits a yes or no response from a participant is not going to help you much at all, so you
need to use an open-ended question that will elicit a more informative response. You could
begin your discussion of this sample with this question:
