The study categorized families into four income levels: welfare, poor, working class, and professional class. This design is best described as:

The study categorized families into four income levels: welfare, poor, working class, and professional class. This design is best described as:

• A. A four-tier socioeconomic sampling framework.
• B. Welfare, poor, working class, professional class
• C. A random sampling of all income groups.
• D. A cross-cultural comparison.

Answer: (B)

Categorizing participants by socioeconomic status using distinct income-based groups is about how the study organizes its sample. Here, the design isn’t describing how participants were chosen or how many groups exist; it’s simply listing the categories used to classify families. The four groups—welfare, poor, working class, and professional class—are the actual categories used to group participants, so the description that restates these categories best fits. It isn’t describing a sampling method (that would be about how participants were selected, not how they’re labeled) and it isn’t a cross-cultural comparison (which would involve comparing different cultures). So the option that essentially names the categories already in use is the best match.

Categorizing participants by socioeconomic status using distinct income-based groups is about how the study organizes its sample. Here, the design isn’t describing how participants were chosen or how many groups exist; it’s simply listing the categories used to classify families. The four groups—welfare, poor, working class, and professional class—are the actual categories used to group participants, so the description that restates these categories best fits. It isn’t describing a sampling method (that would be about how participants were selected, not how they’re labeled) and it isn’t a cross-cultural comparison (which would involve comparing different cultures). So the option that essentially names the categories already in use is the best match.