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Why Do Researchers Utilize Sampling?

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1. Define sampling. Why do researchers utilize sampling?

A. Sampling is a selection of a smaller percentage of individuals from within a larger population that is used to estimate the attitudes and characteristics of the whole population. Sampling saves time and money which is always a good thing, and allows for more manageable research. It may be almost impossible to identify every member of a population/group some may be too large, for example, if you were conducting a study on high school students as to whether they bring lunch to school or eat at the cafeteria, and this research was conducted for the entire state of Texas. Well, it would take an enormous amount of manpower and money to survey every single high school student in the state plus you would have other factors to consider as well. Then you would run into managing issues with such a large endeavor, so choosing a sample or small representation of individuals from the larger population is more …show more content…

In a probability sample each element or unit of the population have a known chance of being selected for the sample study. Probability samples also permit a precise estimate of parameters. Since all elements have an equal chance of being selected for your survey, you can randomly select participants without missing portions of your population; you have a complete sampling frame. With probability samples you can generalize your results from this random sample. With Non-probability samples some people have a greater, but unknown, chance than others of selection into the sample study. Nonprobability samples are used when there is not a complete population list available. Some units are unable to be selected; therefore you have no way of knowing the size and effect of sampling error. Nonprobability samples are not random and often bias; you cannot generalize your results to an entire population with a high level of confidence. Probability samples are the best for the purpose of making valid

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