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Convenience Sampling

Convenience sampling is a non-probability sampling technique where subjects are selected based on their ease of availability to participate in a study. It is commonly used because it is fast, inexpensive, and subjects are readily available. However, it is prone to selection bias as the subjects may not be representative of the entire population. Quota sampling aims to select subjects in proportion to certain characteristics of the population to better represent it, but is still a non-probability technique based on researcher judgment. Cluster sampling randomly selects clusters or groups from the population rather than individuals, with the goal of reducing costs compared to sampling all individuals.

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232 views

Convenience Sampling

Convenience sampling is a non-probability sampling technique where subjects are selected based on their ease of availability to participate in a study. It is commonly used because it is fast, inexpensive, and subjects are readily available. However, it is prone to selection bias as the subjects may not be representative of the entire population. Quota sampling aims to select subjects in proportion to certain characteristics of the population to better represent it, but is still a non-probability technique based on researcher judgment. Cluster sampling randomly selects clusters or groups from the population rather than individuals, with the goal of reducing costs compared to sampling all individuals.

Uploaded by

ChristoPher Torio
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Convenience Sampling, Explorable

The subjects are selected just because they are easiest to recruit for the study and the researcher
did not consider selecting subjects that are representative of the entire population.

In all forms of research, it would be ideal to test the entire population, but in most cases, the
population is just too large that it is impossible to include every individual. This is the reason why
most researchers rely on sampling techniques like convenience sampling, the most common of all
sampling techniques. Many researchers prefer this sampling technique because it is fast,
inexpensive, easy and the subjects are readily available.
One of the most common examples of convenience sampling is using student volunteers as subjects
for the research. Another example is using subjects that are selected from a clinic, a class or an
institution that is easily accessible to the researcher. A more concrete example is choosing five
people from a class or choosing the first five names from the list of patients.

In these examples, the researcher inadvertently excludes a great proportion of the population. A
convenience sample is either a collection of subjects that are accessible or a self selection of
individuals willing to participate which is exemplified by your volunteers.

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What is Quota Sampling?


Quota sampling means to take a very tailored sample that’s in proportion to some characteristic or trait of a
population. For example, you could divide a population by the state they live in, income or education level,
or sex. The population is divided into groups (also called strata) and samples are taken from each group to
meet a quota. Care is taken to maintain the correct proportions representative of the population. For
example, if your population consists of 45% female and 55% male, your sample should reflect those
percentages. Quota sampling is based on the researcher’s judgment and is considered a non-probability
sampling technique.
Advantages:

 Easy to administer.
 Fast to create and complete.
 Inexpensive.
 Takes into account population proportions, if desired.
 Can be used if probability sampling techniques are not possible.
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Quota Sampling Method


To more realistically represent a given population, it would be necessary to control more than one
category. For example, the researcher could select gender and age, or gender and income, or level
of education and income, depending on the purpose of the study. Using our example, the researcher
could add age (less than 21 years and 21 years and over) as a control category, specifying that half
of the sample for each gender be from each age category. Now we are searching for 215 males
under 21 years and 215 males 21 years and over, along with 285 females under 21 years and 285
females 21 years and over. What has happened here is that with every added category, it may take
longer to locate these individuals, thus adding cost and time to the process. However, the target
population could be better represented if additional categories are considered.
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Another example of quota sampling is a situation where an interviewer wishes


to understand how well his/her shoe brand perform. Their target population is
between the age group of 25-40 years. The interviewer can further divide
strata according to gender and select 100 females and males belonging to
that population group. Because the strata are divided according to gender,
they will be unique as a person cannot be both, female and male. The
researcher can create subsets of the decided subgroups according to his/her
knowledge of the population, i.e., they can decide whether to interview a
filtered list from their customer list using online mediums or conduct a survey
within the workforce by keeping the proportion of males and females constant.
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Example of Stratified Random Sampling


Suppose a research team wants to determine the GPA of college students
across the U.S. The research team has difficulty collecting data from all 21
million college students; it decides to take a random sample of the population by
using 4,000 students.

Now assume that the team looks at the different attributes of the sample
participants and wonders if there are any differences in GPAs and students’
majors. Suppose it finds that 560 students are English majors, 1,135 are science
majors, 800 are computer science majors, 1,090 are engineering majors, and
415 are math majors. The team wants to use a proportional stratified random
sample where the stratum of the sample is proportional to the random sample in
the population.

Assume the team researches the demographics of college students in the U.S
and finds the percentage of what students major in 12% major in English, 28%
major in science, 24% major in computer science, 21% major in engineering, and
15% major in mathematics. Thus, five strata are created from the stratified
random sampling process.

The team then needs to confirm that the stratum of the population is in proportion
to the stratum in the sample; however, they find the proportions are not equal.
The team then needs to resample 4,000 students from the population and
randomly select 480 English, 1,120 science, 960 computer science, 840
engineering, and 600 mathematics students. With those, it has a proportionate
stratified random sample of college students, which provides a better
representation of students' college majors in the U.S. The researchers can then
highlight specific stratum, observe the varying studies of U.S. college students
and observe the various grade point averages.

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Overview
Simple random samples and stratified random samples are both statistical
measurement tools. A simple random sample is used to represent the entire data
population. A stratified random sample divides the population into smaller
groups, or strata, based on shared characteristics.

Simple Random Sample


Simple random sampling is a statistical tool used to describe a very basic sample
taken from a data population. This sample represents the equivalent of the entire
population.
The simple random sample is often used when there is very little information
available about the data population, when the data population has far too many
differences to divide into various subsets, or when there is only one distinct
characteristic among the data population.

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Example of Judgmental Sampling

In a study wherein a researcher wants to know what it takes to graduate summa cum laude in
college, the only people who can give the researcher first hand advise are the individuals who
graduated summa cum laude. With this very specific and very limited pool of individuals that can be
considered as a subject, the researcher must use judgmental sampling.

When to Use Judgment Sampling


Judgment sampling is most effective when only a limited number of individuals
possess the trait that a researcher is interested in.

For example, imagine a group of researchers that is interested in what it takes


for American youths to graduate from high school by age 14, instead of the
typical graduation age of 18 years old.

It would not serve the researchers any benefit to use a random sample that
includes a significant amount of youths that are on track to graduate at the
traditional age of 18 years old.

Instead, the researchers should focus only on the members of the population
that fit the criteria and interests of their study — in this case, youths that have
skipped one or several grades and are on track to graduate at age 14.

In this case, judgment sampling is the only viable option for obtaining
information from a very specific group of people.

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Difference Between Cluster Sampling and Stratified


Sampling
The main difference between cluster sampling and stratified sampling lies with the inclusion of the
cluster or strata.

In stratified random sampling, all the strata of the population is sampled while in cluster sampling,
the researcher only randomly selects a number of clusters from the collection of clusters of the entire
population. Therefore, only a number of clusters are sampled, all the other clusters are left
unrepresented.
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Cluster Sampling: Definition


Cluster sampling is defined as a sampling method where multiple clusters of
people are created from a population where they are indicative of
homogeneous characteristics and have an equal chance of being a part of
the sample. In this sampling method, a simple random sample is created from
the different clusters in the population.

For example, if a researcher wants to conduct a study to judge the


performance of sophomore’s in business education across the US, it is
impossible to conduct a research study that involves a sophomore in every
university in the US. Instead, by using cluster sampling, the researcher can
club the universities from each city into one cluster. These clusters then define
all the sophomore student population in the US. Next, either using simple
random sampling or systematic random sampling, some clusters can be
picked for the research study. Subsequently, by using simple or systematic
sampling, sophomore’s from each of these selected clusters can be picked on
whom to conduct the research study.

In this sampling technique, analysis is carried out on a sample which consists


of multiple sample parameters such as demographics, habits, background –
or any other population attribute which may be the focus of conducted
research. This method is usually conducted when groups that are similar yet
internally diverse form a statistical population. Instead of selecting the entire
population of data, cluster sampling allows the researchers to collect data by
bifurcating the data into small, more effective groups.

Another example of this would be; let’s consider a scenario where an


organization is looking to survey the performance of smartphones across
Germany. They can divide the entire country’s population into cities (clusters)
and further select cities with the highest population and also filter those using
mobile devices. This multiple stage sampling is known as cluster sampling.

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