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Quantitative Methods

Data Sources

Selecting Your Sample

Statistics are by definition, the analysis of sample data. A sample is meant to be representative of the larger population. This means that the information from the sample should be as similar to the population as possible.

There are several ways to choose a sample in quantitative research that are meant to give the researcher the most representative sample possible. This uses a probability sampling, which is distinctive from non-probability sampling, used in qualitative research.

There are several ways to collect data using probability sampling. If you use secondary data, its only important for you to know which type of strategy was used. List of several secondary data sources»

List of sampling strategies