The computer simulation of sociological surveys

Abstract

A computer simulation of a sociologist conducting sample surveys was devised in order to construct a general theoretical framework for the investigation of social phenomena, to study the implications of any sociological theory of surveys, to explore the utility of different methods of analyzing survey data, to create a Turing process, and to train graduate sociology students. The model of the simulation had five components: population growth and change, sampling, opinion formation, opinion change, and opinion measurement. Random error, social and ecological influence, and measurement error were incorporated into these segments; however, in particular instances of using the simulation these can be included or bypassed. One instance of the use of the simulation, which incorporated random error and measurement error but not influence, revealed that estimates of means were not altered by error, but that the association between variables was reduced by the presence of error.