Often, researchers can find themselves in a number of difficult tight spots at work: Show
So, what do you do when these situations occur? Convenience sampling might be the best solution to help you get the results you need, in the time and budget you have. Free eBook: How to minimize sampling and non-sampling error What is convenience sampling?Convenience sampling is the most common type of non-probability sampling, which focuses on gaining information from participants (the sample) who are ‘convenient’ for the researcher to access. This sample method doesn’t require a random selection of participants based on any set of criteria (like demographic factors) — instead, researchers can subjectively select people at random, who are happy to be approached and become part of the research. This means that you can find your sample anywhere — for example, people in a mall, on the street, in the workplace or in an online community — at any time. They are all opportunities to carry out research. (Due to this, this type of sampling method is also known as availability sampling, grab sampling, opportunity sampling, and accidental sampling.) It is best used for testing as part of hypothesis generation, getting a ‘sense’ of opinions or as an initial pilot before further research. Don’t mistake this for random sampling, because of how people can be stopped at random by the researcher. It is also unlike probability sampling, as participants are not randomly selected and do not have an equal chance of being selected in the sample. How does convenience sampling work?If you’re curious on how to get started, it’s one of the simplest methods:
That’s it. No need to explore the full population (if you have one) and divide them into sub-sections, get in touch with the sample ahead of time or find a representative sample. Places you could use include your workplace, a mall, a high street, an online interest group, a club, etc. The list is endless. Advantages of convenience samplingThere are several reasons why convenience sampling is so frequently used and attractive to researchers:
Disadvantages of convenience samplingAs with any sampling method, there will be some drawbacks:
Why is it important for businesses?Given the advantages and disadvantages of using convenience sampling, why should you use it in business? Convenience sampling can help you achieve business goals that otherwise might not be possible. Businesses can use this sampling technique when thinking about how to make changes to their brand or products. For example, if one company is interested in seeing how their new toy performs with children in general, they might go to the mall and approach parents with children to ask for interaction with the toy. It’s a great way to check-in with the target market that their perception of your brand or company is strong. This can be achieved by asking questions like ‘have you heard of x brand?’ and ‘what do you think about when you think of x product?’ Sometimes, businesses can’t appeal to the whole population as they can’t contact the whole population or the whole sample isn’t available to them. It would also be impractical to survey the whole population to find a truly random representation of the target audience’s views. In these cases, research needs to happen, and ‘getting who you can’ to review and assess the company’s services can be critical to making decisions on product design, market research, or entering into a new market. It is also useful when looking at concept testing or feature prioritization. Another use for convenience sampling is to highlight to the company when there are serious problems. When you speak to people about your brand, they may come up with concerns that give you great insight into the improvements needed. Some situations, convenience sampling is the only possible option 3 business use case examples of convenience samplingGetting the public response to a brand event (e.g. the launch to a new gaming product) A researcher could stand in front of a gaming store or enter an online games forum, following the release of their brand’s new game. They could ask customers that exit or enter the stores, or people in the forum, to participate in a short survey for their reaction to the game. They could include in the survey a question asking if the participant had bought the game, liked the game, disliked the game, and what their reaction was to particular features (like the visuals, storyline, pace, etc.) Asking for feedback from employees on what a company should do (e.g. to revamp the company dining room) By asking workers who use the company dining room, researchers can collect data on their thoughts about the current dining room and the ideas for the future room. This could help identify things that could help with the user experience from the intended users of the room. You could send out an online link to the survey in a company newsletter, ensuring that those people who use the dining room will see it and respond to the survey (as there is an incentive to have a nicer dining room if they participate). Alternatively, a researcher could stand in the dining room during lunchtime to request for participants in person. Understanding whether it’s worth spending money on full-scale research by running a pilot Your managers might want you to test out a theory or gain initial primary data from people, to give them a ‘sense’ of what the target market wants and how they should react. This can give great results that are quick and easy to translate into results, giving clear information that acts as data to create a data-driven decision. If the pilot is successful, it’s likely that the research team will get the budget and backing to conduct a full-scale research project. How to use convenience sampling without skewing data collectionGetting the best data from participants is a primary concern for most researchers, and survey research suggests a number of ways to prevent data corruption:
How to analyze convenience sampling dataYou’ve completed the research and now you have some data to analyze. What can you do with a convenience sample data-set? You can do quite a lot. You can summarize the total results as a whole. You can review the qualitative data answers and form these into trend analysis graphs. You can also look for similar levels of positive or negative sentiment in qualitative answers. You may find that common phrases come up, which are worth noting as potential issues or highlights. Where there is a larger sample that was used, you can cross-validate the first half of the data with the second half of the data. This means that you can compare the findings of each, to see if there are clear similarities or differences, providing another way to focus on what your results are telling you. Since convenience sampling is hard to replicate with the people, at the same time, in the same circumstances, you can only repeat the research for more insights that add to your original. Therefore, your results should have a section on methodology, explaining that the results were obtained based on convenience sampling in certain conditions. Readers can then see that the analysis you’ve provided is based on that context, preventing misleading conclusions. How Qualtrics software enhances and simplifies convenience samplingConvenience sampling is simple and easy for people to do, and one of the steps is to create a survey. While this could be on paper, an online survey provides more flexibility for sharing more widely, and the results can be collected onto an insights platform in real-time. It would be simple to use any survey software, but Qualtrics has thought about what a research team genuinely needs from the start to the finish of research like convenience sampling. Some things that Qualtrics can provide that speeds up and simplify convenience sampling are:
Similarly, if time is a concern, having a panel of participants ready to go at a moment’s notice is a great resource to have. With research services, you also choose how much or how little support you need. You get the right respondents for every project — even if you want to run a quick pilot.
Qualtrics CoreXM is our solution to support you to apply any sampling methodology to deliver the results you need and at scale. Best of all, it’s much faster and easier to use, less costly and you’re in control. Improve the quality and volume of quality research you make, without the need to outsource or do training. If you’re looking for convenience and using convenience sampling methods, try Qualtrics CoreXM to give you the survey platform, participant panels, analytical insights, repetition, speed, and ability to deliver your work without a great deal of effort. Not only perfect for helping you with convenience sampling, but also more advanced analysis and all your research needs. What type of sampling is recruitment?Quota sampling
This method of sampling is often used by market researchers. Interviewers are given a quota of subjects of a specified type to attempt to recruit.
What type of sampling where the participants recruit other participants for a study?Snowball sampling is a recruitment technique in which research participants are asked to assist researchers in identifying other potential subjects.
What sampling method is helpful for recruiting hard to find participants?Conventional cluster sampling (CCS)
Conventional cluster sampling can be applied in limited circumstances to recruit hard-to-reach population. Cluster sampling is reasonable when there is no list of people to be selected, but a good list of locations where individuals from hard-to-reach group are gathered.
What type of sampling is it when participants volunteer?Voluntary response sampling is considered a type of non-probability sampling technique because participants are self-chosen, and not selected by the researcher on a random basis.
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