Accidental sampling
Accidental sampling, also known as convenience or opportunity sampling, is a non-random method of selecting participants for surveys or interviews. In this approach, researchers often choose individuals from their immediate social circles, such as friends or acquaintances, rather than using a random selection process. While accidental sampling can be useful for conducting pilot surveys or interviews, particularly to refine research questions, it is generally not considered suitable for published research due to potential biases. Researchers should ideally aim for a statistically significant sample that accurately represents the larger population to ensure their findings can be generalized. An example of accidental sampling might involve surveying a specific neighborhood, limiting the diversity of responses. Although this method can facilitate the testing of survey questions and improve data quality, it is crucial that participants from the accidental sample are not included in the final research to maintain the integrity of the data. Overall, while accidental sampling serves a purpose in preliminary stages of research, it has limitations in broader applications.
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Accidental sampling
Accidental sampling, also often called convenience sampling, is a method of identifying participants to complete a survey or interview. It is referred to as "accidental" because participants are not chosen randomly; instead, they are often friends or acquaintances of the researcher. This method of identifying participants is permissible when a researcher is testing a set of survey or interview questions, but it is not commonly acceptable for published research. Accidental sampling is also referred to as a convenience sample or opportunity sample because it is used when a researcher surveys or interviews the most accessible participants. Instead of using accidental sampling, researchers should create a statistically significant sample group so that the research findings can be generalized from the group to the general population.
Overview
It is often impossible for a researcher to survey or interview every member of a population. As such, the researcher determines a small group of the population, known as a "sample," and distributes the survey to members of that group. When creating the sample group, the researcher needs to ensure that the group will accurately represent the larger population. This can be done through a random sample, where each member of the population has an equal chance of participating. Or the researcher might choose a stratified, systematic, or multi-stage random sample in which a subset of the population is identified and then members of that subset are randomly selected to participate in the survey.
Accidental sampling is an acceptable way for researchers to conduct a pilot survey or interview, which is commonly done when the researcher is preparing their research questions. This pilot survey is used to make sure that research questions are well written, make sense, and enable participants to give informative answers. Often, researchers will determine a number of pilot surveys to conduct and will stop when they reach that number, regardless of who has participated in the survey. Then, the researcher will review the collected data to ensure that participants are able to complete the questions. The researcher might also debrief participants to find out if any of the questions were confusing or made the participant uncomfortable. If the researcher is using a survey with fill-in-the-blank questions (also known as "open-ended questions"), this is a good time for the researcher to ask if there is anything that the participant wishes that the survey or interview had asked about. If the researcher is using multiple-choice questions (also known as "closed-ended questions"), this is a good time to make sure that all possible answers are provided to survey participants.
Then, after the pilot survey has been completed and the questions revised, the researcher is prepared to distribute the real survey or conduct the official interviews. The data gathered from these official surveys and interviews will be better because the researcher has pretested all of the questions with the accidental sample. However, it is important that the researcher does not ask participants from the accidental sample to participate in the revised survey or interview. Their answers would be informed by their prior participation in the research project and would not be as valid as answers from participants who were not previous participants in the project.
Bibliography
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