Question

Determine whether the sampling method appears to be sound or is flawed.

Clinical Trials. Researchers at Yale University conduct a wide variety of clinical trials by using subjects who volunteer after reading advertisements soliciting paid volunteers.

Short answer

The sampling method is flawed.

Step-by-step solution

Given information

A variety of clinical trials are conducted using volunteers as subjects. It is known that the volunteers have responded after reading advertisements that mention the requirements of paid volunteers.

Explain the sampling method

The subjects for the clinical trials are the individuals who chose to participate in the study based on the advertisement.

The sampling method used is volunteer response sampling.

Explain if the sampling method is flawed or sound

Volunteer response sampling results in researches that are based on responses from individuals who self-participate in the study. They are more likely to provide biased replies, resulting in inaccurate study outcomes.

Thus, the sampling method is flawed.