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Good and Bad Sampling Techniques

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Quick post today, contrasting good and bad sampling techniques and linking to past posts on these topics.

Good Sampling Techniques

• Make sure there is an equal probability of selecting any member of the target population (the first requirement of random samples)
• Send scheduled email reminders to recipients you invited, so as to maximize external selection (the second requirement of random samples)
• If you have more than 1,000 potential respondents, do not invite them all in an attempted census, but leave names available for future surveys
• Gather enough responses to meet the recommended sample size 
• Take care to describe your surveys results as representative of the population for which you have email addresses, rather than the entire population

Bad Sampling Techniques

• Posting a link to the survey from a web site results in a sample that is not representative of any group
• Conducting a survey within a short time period is unrepresentative
• Surveying everyone just because you can limits future opportunities for surveys