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Russel-Research-Method-in-Anthropology

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7<br />

◆<br />

Sampl<strong>in</strong>g Theory<br />

Distributions<br />

At the end of this chapter, you should understand why it’s possible to estimate<br />

very accurately, most of the time, the average age of the 213 million<br />

adults <strong>in</strong> the United States by talk<strong>in</strong>g to just 1,600 of them. And you<br />

should understand why you can also do this pretty accurately, much of the<br />

time, by talk<strong>in</strong>g to just 400 people. Sampl<strong>in</strong>g theory is partly about distributions,<br />

which come <strong>in</strong> a variety of shapes. Figure 7.1 shows what is known as<br />

the normal distribution<br />

34.13% 34.13%<br />

13.59% 13.59%<br />

2.14% 2.14%<br />

-3 SD -2 SD -1 SD x +1 SD +2 SD +3 SD<br />

mean<br />

-1.96 +1.96<br />

Figure 7.1. The normal curve and the first, second, and third standard deviation.<br />

169

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