Research Methods for Business Students

8th edition

Chapter 7
Selecting samples

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Learning Objectives (1 of 2)
By the end of this chapter you should:
7.1 understand the need to select samples in business and management
research;
7.2 be aware of a range of probability and non-probability sampling
techniques and the possible need to combine techniques within a
research project;
7.3 be able to choose appropriate sampling techniques for a variety of
research scenarios and justify your choices;

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Learning Objectives (2 of 2)
7.4 be able to use a range of sampling techniques;
7.5 be able (where appropriate) to assess the representativeness of the
sample selected;
7.6 be able to assess the extent to which it is reasonable to generalise
from a sample;
7.7 be able to apply the knowledge, skills and understanding gained to
your own research project.

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Figure 7.1
Population, target population, sample and
individual cases

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Figure 7.2
Sampling techniques

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Table 7.1
Sample sizes for different sizes of target population at
a 95 per cent confidence level (assuming data are
collected from all cases in the sample)
Margin of error
Target population
5% 3% 2% 1%

50 44 48 49 50
100 79 91 96 99
250 151 203 226 244
500 217 340 414 475
1000 278 516 706 906
2000 322 696 1091 1655
10,000 370 964 1936 4899
1,000,000 384 1066 2395 9513
10,000,000 384 1067 2400 9595
Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Levels of non-response

Level Explanation

Complete refusal none of the questions answered

Break-off less than 50 per cent of all questions answered other
than by a refusal or no answer (this therefore includes
complete refusal)
Partial response 50 per cent to 80 per cent of all questions answered
other than by a refusal or no answer
Complete response over 80 per cent of all questions answered other than by
a refusal or no answer

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Figure 7.3 (1 of 2)
Choosing a probability sampling technique

Note: Simple random sampling ideally requires a sample size of over a few hundred

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Figure 7.3 (2 of 2)
Choosing a probability sampling technique

Note: Simple random sampling ideally requires a sample size of over a few hundred

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Table 7.2 (1 of 4)
Impact of various factors on choice of probability
sampling techniques

Source: © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2018

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Table 7.2 (2 of 4)
Impact of various factors on choice of probability
sampling techniques

Source: © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2018

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Table 7.2 (3 of 4)
Impact of various factors on choice of probability
sampling techniques

Source: © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2018

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Table 7.2 (4 of 4)
Impact of various factors on choice of probability
sampling techniques

Source: © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2018

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Table 7.3
Extract of spreadsheet generated random
numbers between 1 and 5011

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Table 7.4
The impact of periodic patterns on systematic
random sampling

✓ Sample selected if you start with 1. * Sample selected if you start with 2.

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Figure 7.4 (1 of 2)
Choosing a non-probability sampling
technique

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Figure 7.4 (2 of 2)
Choosing a non-probability sampling
technique

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Table 7.5
Non-probability sample size norms when using
qualitative interviews

Source: Developed from Saunders and Townsend (2016)

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Table 7.6 (1 of 4)
Impact of various factors on choice of non-
probability sampling techniques

Sources: Developed from Patton (2015); Saunders (2012)

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Table 7.6 (2 of 4)
Impact of various factors on choice of non-
probability sampling techniques

Sources: Developed from Patton (2015); Saunders (2012)

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Table 7.6 (3 of 4)
Impact of various factors on choice of non-
probability sampling techniques

Sources: Developed from Patton (2015); Saunders (2012)

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Table 7.6 (4 of 4)
Impact of various factors on choice of non-
probability sampling techniques

Sources: Developed from Patton (2015); Saunders (2012)

Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved