SOCI 217 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Oversampling, Multistage Sampling, Nonprobability Sampling
Week 6- Sampling
Multistage cluster sampling
• Cluster sampling
o Multistage sampling in which natural groups (clusters) are sampled initially, with
the members of each selected group being subsampled afterward
• Used when it is either impossible or impractical to compile an exhaustive list of the
elements that compose a large population
• Population elements may already be grouped into subpopulations, of which lists actually
exist
Non-probability sampling
Haphazard sampling
• Reliance on available subjects
• Use of those available at a particular time and place
• Pros
o Convenient
o Inexpensive
o Pre-test surveys
• Cons
o Not representative of a large population
o Difficult to generalize
Purposive sampling
• Sample selected from you own knowledge of the population you intend to study
• Useful when studying small subset of a larger population, where the members are easily
identified
Snowball sampling
• Used already recruited respondents to locate other members of the population under
study
• Pros
o Useful when individuals are hard to locate, but known to each other
o Members of group can vouch for you
• Cons
o Different members know each other, likely share characteristics
o Unlikely to be representative
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
