Reflective Note on Sampling
The attractive lesson I learned in the Research method course so far is sampling techniques and
sampling types. This topic is not new to me because I learned about Sampling in the Basic Statistics
course in the third semester. However, in the Research method course, I changed my understanding
of some points of the Sampling topic that I had learned before. Therefore, I thought to write a
reflective note on this topic as my assignment.
I have been impressed with some key points about the topic through sampling lecture sessions.
The first key point is the importance of representations to improve generalization and sample
efficiency. If a researcher is conducting research on a specific population, he will want to ensure
that his sample of that population is representative. If his sample is lack representation of his
population, the researcher cannot effectively generalize the findings of his study to that
representative of the population. From the lecture session, I was able to learn that the above
situation can happen due to sampling errors and biases. Before that session, I had not any idea
about the importance of a representative sample when conducting research. Therefore, when I
conduct my research, I have to make sure to reduce the lack of representation of the research
sample, for that, I should make a strong sampling frame and use random (probability) sampling
techniques. Also, conducting research with a larger sample size, is because a larger sample tends
to be more representative.
The second key point is determining the sample size for a research study. I realized the
determination of sample size is a critical step in the sampling process. Because if we go with a toosmall size of samples it may lead to inaccurate results of the research study while going with too
large sizes of samples may waste time and resources. For that reason, when conducting a research
study, I have to determine an appropriate and sufficient sample size that represents a target
population. Through further studies on this, I could learn about factors of sample size
determination, and how to calculate the sample size. Those factors are confidence interval (the
margin of error), confidence level, standard deviation, and population size. The formula for
calculating sample size is as follows,
(𝑧 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒)2 × 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 × (1 − 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛)
𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒 =
(𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙)2
By converting the confidence level from the standard normal table, can obtain the z-score of the
above formula. If I identified each factor properly, I will be able to determine the appropriate
sample size for my research study. By the end of the research study, I will be able to obtain a high
level of precise findings and results.
Nevertheless, according to Uma Sekaran, Research Method for Business 4th Edition, Roscoe
(1975), the sample size should be at least 30% of the target population. It is difficult when to have
a large number of populations. For example, for a researcher studying stock market participants'
behaviour on stock price changes, if the total stock market participants are around 10Mn, then the
sample size should be at least 3Mn. Getting information from 3Mn stock market participants is an
impossible task. Therefore, there is a rule of thumb that states that a minimum sample size of 30
is appropriate for most research. This really helps to minimize time and resource wastage in the
data collection process of my research studies.
The next key point is the qualitative sampling in research. Qualitative research typically explicates
the human side of issues such as conflicting behaviours, beliefs, emotions, and relationships. This
topic attracts me because it has the ability to provide comprehensive insight into how individuals
interact with a certain research problem. Unlike quantitative research, qualitative research is more
flexible and less formal. Hence, it leads to creating a good relationship between the researcher and
participants. Further, in qualitative research, the researcher has to play a big role. Researchers are
attempting to gain access to research participants' thoughts and feelings. This is a difficult
endeavour since it requires people to discuss personal matters. Therefore, the researcher has a
responsibility to protect participants and their data. In particular, this learning of the qualitative
sampling in research is new to me and is the most interesting key point I have learned from the
sampling lesson.
The last key point is ethical considerations in data collection. Earlier I thought the data collection
is just an activity of the research process. But, after the lecture session, my thoughts on that were
changed. I realized the data collection is not just a process and there have ethical guidelines when
we collect data from participants. That ethical guideline is not only applicable to the data collection
process, throughout the research process experience we have to align with the ethical guidelines.
Further, from the lecture session, I can be able to find the answer to why ethical consideration is
very important when we collect data. The answer that I found is ethical guidelines in research
foster the goals of research such as knowledge, truth, and error avoidance. For example, the
prohibition on forging, manipulating, or misrepresenting research data enhance the truth and
reduce error. Therefore, I have to maintain a good relationship based on trust with participants
while conducting research. If not, participants will not reveal the truth and they lie to research
questionaries and is ultimately affected the research goal. Hence, following the ethical guidelines
is very important to a researcher in order to make a successful research report.
To sum up, before I attend the lecture session of the sampling lesson, I had some understanding
and thoughts on sampling. However, after attending the sampling lecture session and
recommended readings, I can be able to correct and enhance those understandings and thoughts. I
realized the success of research studies depends on the way of using our knowledge and skills in
sampling techniques. If I develop more of my knowledge on sampling, I can be able to minimize
the time and resource consumption in my research studies. Ultimately, I will be able to conduct
effective research studies in the future.
Plagiarism Report 2019ms9048
by John Steevan
Submission date: 29-May-2022 03:20AM (UTC-0400)
Submission ID: 1846250817
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