Sampling
Why it is important that a sample be representative of the population it came from. Why would a biased sample not support the value of community?
In statistical research, sampling is a common technique employed in the selection of research subjects. A sample selection determines the accuracy of the inferences derived from the sample. It is vital that the selected sample be representative of the whole population under study. This way, the researcher will be using a representative sample to draw inferences. Such a sample is one that contains the features of the population from which the sample is derived. Representative samples are difficult to obtain but are beneficial to a researcher in several ways (Statistics Solutions, 2020). Firstly, it helps the researcher meet the goals of the study. Secondly, since the sample reflects the characteristics of the larger population, inferences made are plausible and reliable. Thirdly, it saves the researcher on expenses that could be incurred in conducting a survey on all population subjects.
There are instances when a sample is said to not support the value of community, a situation commonly known as sampling error or bias. This bias due to sampling is mainly a result of erred sampling frames and procedures. Bias can be induced when a researcher samples a subset of the population, meaning that the inferences made represent the selected sub-section (Young, 2020). Although sampling error is common for all sampling methods, when it exceeds a certain value, the sample no longer supports the community of interest for the study. Therefore, if a sample contains major differences from the population and thus cannot be used for generalization, then it does not support the value of the larger community of research subjects.
References
Statistics Solutions. (2020). What is a Representative Sample? https://www.statisticssolutions.com/what-is-a-representative-sample/
Young, J. (2020). “Representative Sample” https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/representative-sample.asp#:~:text=A%20representative%20sample%20is%20a,three%20males%20and%20three%20females.
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Statistics Discussion
- Why is it important that a sample be representative of the population it came from? Why would a biased sample not support the value of community?