Sampling

Question 1

Why should a business sample?

Answer 1

• business cannot question every person or observe every business
• instead they take samples
• involves questioning a selection of the customers/potential customers who represent the target market being researched

Question 2

What are the three key sampling methods?

Answer 2

• random
• quota
• stratified

Question 3

What is random sampling?

Answer 3

• chosen without bias
• choosing them off the street isn’t random as there’s reasons why interviewer selected them
• so individual is chosen by chance and each member of the population has an equal chance of being included

Question 4

What is Quota sampling?

Answer 4

• interviewers target particular characteristics

- interviewer may have pre-requisites when interviewing

Question 5

What is stratified sampling?

Answer 5

• unrealistic to think every person will share exact characteristics
• stratified divides population into sub populations
• will ensure the sample is more representative of whole population

Question 6

What defines the accuracy of the sample?

Answer 6

• sample can be measured by a confidence level
• 80% level suggests that sample would be right 8/10 times
• can be expresses as a number, e.g. +-5, called a confidence interval
• so if concluded 45% of consumers will buy with a +-5% margin it’s really 40-50%

Question 7

How can a business improve sample accuracy?

Answer 7

-business wants lower confidence levels
-three things can be done to ;Lower:
•increasing sample size, more reliable
•lowering population size
•having extreme results, 96 or 5% is better than 46% or 54%

Question 8

What are advantages of sampling?

Answer 8

• can gauge market size without asking everybody
• Lower costs than asking everyone
• quicker than asking everyone
• more practical than asking everyone
• can increase reliability by using larger sample

Question 9

What are disadvantages of sampling?

Answer 9

• have to make sure it represents entire population
• business needs accurate profile of its customers in order to create a sample that represents them, not often the case
• might be difficult to find the required number of people who fit particular sample specification
• may delay decisions made by business while process is being conducted
• people may be biased towards or against business