Quota Sampling

Sampling designs are typically separated into two fundamental types: probability and nonprobability. In probability-based sampling, each member of the population has a known, nonzero chance of being selected. Nonprobability samples are generated from more subjective criteria of the researcher, such as personal experience, convenience, and volunteers. Quota sampling is one form of a [Page 1357]nonprobability or judgmental sampling design used to acquire data from population subgroups.

In quota sampling, participants or locations are selected nonrandomly according to a fixed quota or percentage of the population based on one or more characteristics. The quota selected may be proportional or nonproportional to the actual population distribution. In order to obtain a representative sample, a proportional quota sampling design requires a priori knowledge about the underlying population characteristics. Nonproportional ...