Question

Suppose that you are conducting market research at a regional mall in your city. The survey you are administering contains some relatively personal questions that some consumers might be reluctant to answer. As a result, you decide to select passers-by whom you believe are most likely to agree to answer your questions. Such an approach helps to ensure that all surveys will be completed and that questions will be answered in an unbiased manner. Nonetheless, it may come with a cost. Of the following statements, which is not a potential problem associated with this approach?
a. It might unexpectedly impact the "representativeness" of the sample.
b. All the answer options are potential problems.
c. It is likely to decrease the response rate.
d. It violates the underlying principles inherent in "probability sampling" techniques.
e. It could negatively influence the validity of the research study.

Answer 1

Answer: b. All the answer options are potential problems.

Explanation:

In other to get a truly unbiased result from surveys, the sample chosen should be completely random. This method is not random as the people being chosen are selected which means that the basic underlying principle of probability sampling of randomness is violated.

The representativeness of the sample might also be affected if only a certain type of people look like they will answer which means that only they will be represented in the sample. These problems have a strong chance of influencing the research in a negative way as the research may be biased.

And of course the response rate will likely be lower as only a certain type of people are being looked for and they might not number much.