What Is a Convenience Sample

A convenience sample is a non-probability sample in which the researcher uses the subjects that are nearest and available to participate in the research study. This technique is also referred to as accidental sampling, and is commonly used in pilot studies prior to launching a larger research project. Key Takeaways: Convenience Samples A convenience sample consists of research subjects who were chosen for a study because they could be recruited easily.One disadvantage of convenience sampling is that subjects in a convenience sample may not be representative of the population the researcher is interested in studying.One advantage of convenience sampling is that data can be collected quickly and for a low cost.Convenience samples are often used in pilot studies, through which researchers can refine a research study before testing a larger and more representative sample. Overview When a researcher is eager to begin conducting research with people as subjects, but may not have a large budget or the time and resources that would allow for the creation of a large, randomized sample, she may choose to use the technique of convenience sampling. This could  mean stopping people as they walk along a sidewalk, or surveying passersby in a mall, for example. It could also mean surveying friends, students, or colleagues to which the researcher has regular access.​ Given that social science researchers are also often college or university professors, it is quite common for them to begin research projects by inviting their students to be participants. For example, let’s say that a researcher is interested  in studying drinking  behaviors among college students. The professor teaches an introduction to sociology class and decides to use her class as the study sample, so she passes out surveys during class for the students to complete and hand in. This would be an example of a convenience sample because the researcher is using subjects that are convenient and readily available. In just a few minutes, the researcher is able to conduct a study with possibly a large research sample, given that introductory courses at universities can have as many as 500-700 students enrolled in a term. However, as we’ll see below, there are both pros and cons of using convenience samples such as this one. Disadvantages of Convenience Samples One disadvantage highlighted by the above example is that a convenience sample is not representative of all college students, and therefore the researcher would not be able to generalize her findings to the entire population of college students. The students enrolled in the introductory sociology class, for example, might be mostly first-year students. The sample may be unrepresentative in other ways, such as by religiosity, race, class, and geographical region, depending on the population of students enrolled at the school. Moreover, the students in the introductory sociology class may not be representative of students at all universities—they may differ from students at other universities on some of these dimensions as well. For example, researchers Joe Henrich, Steven Heine, and Ara Norenzayan found that psychology research studies often involve American college students, who tend to be unrepresentative of the global population as a whole. Consequently, Henrich and his colleagues suggest, study results could look different if researchers studied non-students or individuals from non-Western cultures. In other words, with a convenience sample, the researcher is unable to control the representativeness of the sample. This lack of control may cause a biased sample and research results, and thus limits the wider applicability of the study. Advantages of Convenience Samples While the results of studies using convenience samples may not necessarily be applicable to the larger population, the results could still be useful. For example, the researcher could consider the research a pilot study and use the results to refine certain questions on the survey or to come up with more questions to include in a later survey. Convenience samples are often used for this purpose: to test certain questions and see what kind of responses arise, and use those results as a springboard to create a more thorough and useful  questionnaire. A convenience sample also has the benefit of allowing for a low- to no-cost research study to be conducted, because it uses the population that is already available. It is also time-efficient because it allows the research to be conducted in the course of the researchers everyday life. As such, a convenience sample is often chosen when other randomized sampling techniques are simply not possible to achieve. Updated  by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

Race And Ethnicity Biological And Sociological Factors

Race and Ethnicity both relates to biological and sociological factors respectively and even though they can overlap, they are distinct. The term race refers to the concept of dividing people into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of physical characteristics (which usually result from genetic ancestry). Race presumes shared biological or genetic traits, whether actual or asserted and the category to which others assign individuals on the basis of physical characteristics. Races are assumed to be distinguished by skin color, eye color or hair type. However, the scientific studies based on racial distinctions shows that racial genetic differences are very weak except in skin color. Ethnicity, however, refers to cultural factors, including nationality, regional culture, ancestry, heritage, religion, customs and language. It refers to the origin of one s ancestors for example Black or African-American originated in Africa, White or Caucasian originated in European cou ntries, Asian originated in Asia; Hispanic originated in Latin American and so on. An ethnic group or ethnicity is a population group whose members identify with each other on the basis of common nationality or shared cultural traditions so one has to conform to certain practices in order to be considered as belonging to a certain ethnic group. Ethnic identity is reflective of cultural practices as well as the acquisition and maintenance of cultural characteristics Culture is the sum ofShow MoreRelatedRace And Ethnicity : Biological And Sociological Factors980 Words   |  4 PagesRace and Ethnicity both relate to biological and sociological factors respectively, and even though they can overlap, they are distinct. 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Computer Programming free essay sample

Each feature of C++ exists because it has proven important for some area of industrial programming. With the language standard nearly complete, compilers that implement most of the new standard features are available now on most architecture. Real-world programmers are more interested in problems than in languages: a programming language is a way to solve a problem. When you use the right mix of languages and language features, the solution to a problem is much easier to describe and implement, with better results. C++ remains an essential tool for software engineers not because anybody thinks its the best possible language, but because its a single, portable language that works better than any alternative in each of several areas. This article explores the strengths of C++, and how to exploit them in your projects. * Why Use C++? C++ is a general purpose programming language designed to make programming more enjoyable for the serious programmer. We will write a custom essay sample on Computer Programming or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For many uses, C++ is not the ideal language. You might prefer Tcl/Tk for writing a user interface, SQL for relational database queries, Java for network programming, or Yacc for writing a parser. C++ is used because it works well when the ideal language is (for whatever reason) not available, and because it interfaces easily with the libraries and the other languages you use. Its no accident that you can interface C++ with almost any language interpreter or library you find. You rarely find a big program written all in one language, or without using libraries, so easy integration with other languages and libraries was a key design goal. Most problems have no specialized language to solve them; some because none has (yet) been worth creating, and others because an interpreter would add too much overhead. When you cant afford a specialized language for part of a problem, a library may suffice. C++ was designed with libraries always in mind, and its most useful features are those that help you write portable, efficient, easy-to-use libraries. Reference: www. cantrip. org Why use C++ instead of Java? Java needs to be interpreted or JIT compiled, while C++ is compiled directly into machine code. At compile time the compiler with knowledge of the CPU can heavily optimize the code which is not possible in a JIT that has much stricter run time requirements. It depends on what you compare. There are shootouts that compare C++ code compiled for a 386 with 387 FPU with Suns Hot Spot engine on a current CPU. Since the java engine knows the CPU that it is running on, it can optimize for the MMX and SSE units and the more subtle issues of that specific CPU. Those shootouts are usually used to prove that java was faster than C++. If your compiler optimizes your C++ code for the CPU it will be running on, the compiler still can do more sophisticated optimizations that a Java JIT never will be able to do in the short time it has for compilation. There are also some things in the languages. Java is a more dynamic language than C++. A C++ compiler can e. g. do heavy in lining of non-virtual methods. In java all methods are what a C++ virtual method would be. Templates are completely interpreted at compile time, where generics are more or less a feature for mass casting, which needs run time support in Java. There are many more sometimes subtle differences in the languages, where well written C++ code is better for compiler optimizations than java code can ever be without losing the promises the language gives to the programmer. Of course last, not least C++ lets the programmer decide about memory management. That makes things more complicated for the programmer, but on the other hand he can decide for the memory management that is optimal for his code. A small shell until that uses a fixed block of memory every time it runs may need no memory management at all. There is no way to do that with Java, the GC is always there. Another application may be best of with pooled memo