Sampling, Internet

Sampling is the process of selecting a group of people from a larger population of interest as a basis for drawing conclusions about an entire population. Two main strategies for using the Internet to survey the general population exist. The first strategy is to contact random people using another mode (e.g., mail, telephone, face-to-face) and ask them to complete a survey on the Web. Another strategy relies on a convenience sample of Internet users. A convenience sample is a collection of individuals who are selected for inclusion in the sample and are the easiest to access. These surveys are subject to limitations due to their nonprobability nature, which means that the probability that every unit or respondent was included in the sample cannot ...