Sampling Strategy Based Upon PICOT Questions
Define your target population and sample.
The target population includes individuals who have been identified as suicidal and are aged 15-19 years, and the other population includes adults from 20 years and above. The sample will consist of two groups, including the teens aged 15-19 years, and the other population will encompass the adults above 20 years. The sample will include 60 participants, 35 adults, and 25 teens. This sample will consist of males and females, and 60% will be males while the rest will be females.
Discuss your sampling approach in terms of their nature, use, advantages, and disadvantages. e.g., you can choose convenience, or quota, or random or purposive, etc.
The sampling technique selected for the study is quota sampling, which is a non-sampling approach whereby the researchers come up with a sample of entailing persons that represent a populace. The chosen individuals are based on certain qualities or traits. In this study, the selected population will be selected on the groups of age and suicidal tendencies. The main advantage is saving money and time because it offers critical details regarding how many samples of every group are needed for the study. It is likewise a swift process, and it speeds up the study process. The main disadvantage of this sampling method is that there are high chances of recorded a sampling error since it is a non-random sampling technique.
Indicate the inclusion and exclusion criteria.
The inclusion criteria are the presence of suicidal thoughts and must be within the stipulated age-group. The exclusion criteria include being below the age of 15 years. Regardless of the availability of the suicidal thoughts at the age below the stipulated one, a person may not participate in the study. Consequently, meeting the age requirement without incident of suicidal attempts or thoughts is also excluded from the study.
Discuss the factors that influenced the determination of sample size.
The first factor that was considered in determining the sample size is the nature of the population. Since this study population is relatively scarce to find, the sample size cannot be very big. Consequently, this population is not readily available. The other factor was the stratification nature and its effect on the cost of the survey. A relatively small sample is appropriate for cost-saving. Along the same line, the time available for the study was considered while selecting the study sample.
Discuss potential threats to internal and external validity as sources of sampling bias.
History is the first threat to validity because things keep changing as time passes. Testing may have a significant effect on the second test. This is because the measuring process tends to change what is being measured. This is because of the reactive impact, which happens when the testing process results in behavioral change. Finally, the instrument used could be a source of threat to validity.
What is your cosmic Question (This is a question you ask your peers to respond to based on the chapter discussed in class this week, i.e., Sampling Strategy)?
Sampling methods are diverse and relatively complex to understand. There are several questions that arise from the chapter:
- Which is the best study approach to use in an online survey?
- Is it possible to employ a consecutive sampling technique in quantitative research more so cross-sectional study method?