Which term describes the loss of some subjects from a sample during a study?

Which term describes the loss of some subjects from a sample during a study?

• A. Maturation
• B. Measurement Decay
• C. Morality
• D. Hawthorne Effect

Answer: (C)

Loss of participants over the course of a study is called attrition. In longitudinal research, people dropping out reduces the sample size and can bias findings. When dropouts occur because participants die, this is referred to as mortality. The term shown in the options is morality, which seems to be a misspelling of mortality; the intended concept is death-related attrition. The other terms describe different phenomena: maturation is how participants change as they age, measurement decay is when an instrument loses accuracy over time, and the Hawthorne effect is when people alter their behavior because they know they’re being observed.

Loss of participants over the course of a study is called attrition. In longitudinal research, people dropping out reduces the sample size and can bias findings. When dropouts occur because participants die, this is referred to as mortality. The term shown in the options is morality, which seems to be a misspelling of mortality; the intended concept is death-related attrition. The other terms describe different phenomena: maturation is how participants change as they age, measurement decay is when an instrument loses accuracy over time, and the Hawthorne effect is when people alter their behavior because they know they’re being observed.