Sampling Methods In Research
What is sampling?[edit | edit source]
Sampling involves selecting a subset of individuals or items from a larger population to gather information or draw conclusions about the entire population. This process is crucial because it's often impractical, too expensive, or simply not feasible to collect data from every single member of a population.
By studying a representative sample, researchers aim to make inferences and generalizations about the entire population. However, the key challenge in sampling is to ensure that the selected sample is truly representative of the population's characteristics. If the sample isn't representative, the conclusions drawn from it might not accurately reflect the population as a whole.
Probability Sampling[edit | edit source]
In a probability sample, each element in a sampling frame has a known and nonzero chance of selection (ie, a probability of being sampled), and random selection is used to choose elements.
Probability sampling subtypes:
Simple Random Sampling
Non-Probability Sampling[edit | edit source]
In non-probability sampling, elements of the population do not have a known or equal probability of selection. Some elements have no chance of being selected, and some have a probability of selection that is impossible to know
