Sample Bias Resulting from a Requirement for Written Parental Consent

• Published in: Public opinion quarterly Vol. 47; no. 1; pp. 96 - 102
• Main Authors: KEARNEY, KATHLEEN A., HOPKINS, RONALD H., MAUSS, ARMAND L., WEISHEIT, RALPH A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Princeton, N.J Oxford University Press 01.01.1983; Elseiver North-Holland, Inc; Public Opinion Quarterly, Inc
• Subjects: ASIAN AMERICAN; BIAS (METHODOLOGICAL OR INSTITUTIONAL); Bias/Biases/Biased; Child/Children/Childhood; Children; Consent; Ethnic groups; Grade levels; Informed consent; PARENT; Parent/Parents/Parental; Parental consent; Parents; Reading tests; Research biases; SAMPLE SURVEY; Sample/Samples/Sampling; Sampling bias; Test scores
• ISSN: 0033-362X; 1537-5331
• DOI: 10.1086/268769

The parents of an eligible sample of 1618 students in grades four through twelve were contacted to obtain written permission for their children to complete questionnaires related to alcohol and drugs. The distributions of students across the parental response categories (consent-denied, no-reply, or consent-granted) were compared on the student variables of sex, grade level, ethnic group, and reading and vocabulary test scores. The explicit consent procedure produced a sample that was approximately half the size of the eligible population and overrepresented white students while underrepresenting blacks and Asian Americans. There was no evidence of sample bias with respect to student gender, and the evidence regarding bias on academically related measures was mixed.