Study guide: Check What Counts as Confirmation
Compare independent records, sampling reach, denominators, and synthesis claims.
Ideas to explain in your own words
- Compare scope and independence before calling two sources confirmation.
- State a convenience sample’s result without turning it into a population estimate.
- Distinguish total counts from percentages using complete fictional data.
- Combine source scope, dependency, and rates in a bounded conclusion.
Watch your reasoning
- The entry log covers all-day entries, the note covers one hour of assistance, and the newsletter credits the log. Unique people are not counted by the supplied evidence.
- The supplied method and counts support a result for the respondents only. They do not establish a whole-library or town estimate.
- The denominators differ. Five of twenty is 25%, while eight of forty is 20%. Counts alone do not supply the proportion ranking.
- D’s sixteen respondents are the denominator for its twelve positive responses. No link identifies them with assisted people or establishes 48 unique visitors.
A worked review example
Check agreement between independent records: A counts all-day entries, while B describes assistance during one hour. C repeats A, so A and C agreeing does not establish two independent counts. An independently maintained door counter for the same day would be a better check. Check Who a Small Poll Reaches: “18/24=75% of the responding Saturday chess-club attendees said yes. Homework visitors and story-group users were not invited. Inviting them at their usual times would cover those missing occasions, but response choices and other users would still need attention.” Compare Rates with Matching Denominators: “A has 5/20=25% dated items; B has 8/40=20%. B has more dated items by count, but A has the larger dated share. Neither result measures truthfulness or the archive’s full range of perspectives.” Write a Scope-Aware Inquiry Answer: “12/16=75% of exit-card volunteers liked the seating. We cannot say every visitor liked it: four volunteers did not, and other visitors’ views are unrecorded. A counts entries and C copies A; B is a different one-hour assistance measure.”
Make a practice plan
- Try the supplied lesson problems without looking at the answers.
- Compare your method with the worked examples and explain any correction.
- Use the new review cases, then complete the transfer task on paper or in your own document.