-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 - - 17 - APPENDIX E: POPULATION VALUES The numerical values of the attributes discussed in this paper have usually been those pertaining to the samples taken rather than the populations those samples represent. There are, of course, many reasons why these may differ by amounts greater than the sampling errors them- selves. Most obvious is that inherent in the sampling at group meetings is a bias toward A.A. members that attend meetings often. Thus a simple sample average of the reported frequency of attendance at meetings will register a higher frequency than that of the sampled population. Other attributes might also be biased if correlations existed between those attributes and the frequency of attendance. Because the frequency of attendance is reported in the questionnaire, it is possible approximately to remove this source of bias, and this has been done over the years, with the finding that in most cases little bias exists in the sample attributes. To illustrate, the calculations done in 1986 and 1989 are presented below, and it will be seen that the only attribute strongly affected is the average frequency of attendance itself. 1989 1986 ATTRIBUTE POP SAMP POP SAMP frequency 2.87 4.56 3.22 4.50 % rehabs 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.29 % drugs 0.42 0.44 0.42 0.43 % AAmemb. 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.34 % counslg 0.10 0.11 0.11 0.11 % family 0.18 0.18 0.19 0.18 % self 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 mos.sobr. 51.61 49.35 52.07 50.45 treat bfr 0.67 0.67 0.67 0.67 treat aft 0.60 0.60 0.59 0.60 % doctors 0.07 0.06 0.06 0.06 HaveSpons 0.84 0.84 0.84 0.84 %under 31 0.18 0.22 0.20 0.21 % 31-50 0.57 0.54 0.54 0.55 %51-plus 0.25 0.23 0.26 0.24 There are, of course, many other ways in which the sample averages could differ from population averages in ways other than sampling errors. The population itself is that of groups registered at the General Service Office, and there are many other A.A. groups. A study done in 1987 suggested that about 20% of groups registered with intergroups and central offices are not registered at G.S.O. There are groups not registered with any of these. There are undoubtedly members who, for whatever reason, do not complete the questionnaire; they may constitute a set with other significant differences. Moreover, only about 2/3 of the groups that were selected actually participated; perhaps they systematically differ in other respects. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP Personal Privacy 6.5.8 iQA/AwUBQk9Lsrw9MOKEeRC8EQL8fgCg7UKiUw7Z57esX45YnU0nJtYHJ34AnjKg aDc7L0dOVmTahnw5ikJJDGHe =nCPa -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----