METHODS OF SAMPLING

• PROBABILITY SAMPLING

• NONPROBABILITY SAMPLING
 NONPROBABILITY SAMPLING

• SAMPLE ELEMENTS ARE ARBITRARILY CHOSEN, BY NON

RANDOM METHODS

• CANNOT ENSURE EVERY ELEMENT HAS EQUAL CHANCE OF

INCLUSION AS SAMPLE

• NO MEANS TO ESTIMATE PROBABILITY THAT EACH ELEMENT

HAS OF BEING A SAMPLE
• PRIMARY NONPROBABILITY METHODS ARE:

- CONVENIENCE SAMPLING

- QUOTA SAMPLING

- PURPOSIVE SAMPLING
 CONVENIENCE SAMPLING
• RESEARCHER SELECTS THOSE UNITS WHICH APPEAR
CONVENIENT TO HIM
• WEAKEST FORM OF SAMPLING
• DRAWBACKS:
- AVAILABLE SUBJECTS MIGHT BE ATYPICAL OF THE
POPULATION OF INTEREST
- OBTAINED BY FOLLOWING THIS METHOD CANNOT BE
GENERALISED BEYOND THE STUDY SAMPLES
• SNOWBALL SAMPLING (ALSO CALLED NETWORK SAMPLING

OR CHAIN SAMPLING) IS A VARIANT OF CONVENIENCE

SAMPLING. IN THIS APPROACH, EARLY SAMPLE MEMBERS

ARE ASKED TO IDENTIFY AND REFER OTHER PEOPLE WHO

MEET THE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• BENEFITS :

- EASY AND TIME SAVING

- CUMILATIVE RESULTS OF SIMILAR STUDIES OF SAME

PHENOMENON IS MORE CREDIBLE

 QUOTA SAMPLING
• RESEARCHER HAS A QUOTA OR NUMBER OF SAMPLES TO BE
SELECTED UNDER A CERTAIN CRITERIA

• RESEARCHERS CAN ENSURE THAT DIVERSE SEGMENTS OF

POPULATION ARE REPRESENTED IN THE SAMPLE

• ALL QUOTAS ARE HETEROGENOUS AND WITHIN EACH QUOTA,

UNITS ARE HOMOGENOUS

• PROPORTIONATE AND NONPROPORTIONATE SAMPLING

 MERITS

• LESS COSTLY

• ADMINISTRATIVELY EASY

• SUITED FOR FIELD WORK STUDIES

• BEST METHOD FOR POPULATION WITHOUT SAMPLING

FRAME
 DEMERITS

• DO NOT HAVE RANDOMIZATION, HENCE HAVE LOT OF

ERRORS AND BIAS

• MAY NOT BE REPRESENTATIVE

• CHANCES OF “COURTESY EFFECT”

 PURPOSIVE SAMPLING
• BASED ON THE BELIEF THAT RESEARCHERS’ KNOWLEDGE
ABOUT THE POPULATION CAN BE USED TO HAND-PICK
SAMPLE MEMBERS
• SELECTION OF A SAMPLE BY CHOICE, NOT BY CHANCE
• PURPOSEFULLY SELECT SUBJECTS WHO ARE JUDGED TO BE
TYPICAL OF THE POPULATION OR PARTICULARLY
KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THE ISSUES UNDER STUDY
 MERITS

• SIMPLE TO DRAW

• LESS COSTLY

• MORE REPRESENTATIVE THAN PREVIOUS ONES

• APT FOR QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

• USED IF RESEARCHER NEEDS A SAMPLE GROUP OF EXPERTS

 DEMERITS

• NOT RELIABLE AS RESEACHER MAY MAKE ERRORS

RECOGNISING THE TYPICAL FEATURE

• NEED DEEP VAST KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE POPULATION

• NO RANDOMIZATION