convenience sampling

any process for selecting a sample of individuals or cases that is neither random nor systematic but rather is governed by chance or ready availability. Interviewing the first 50 people to exit a store is an example of convenience sampling. Data obtained from convenience sampling do not generalize to the larger population; there may be significant sampling bias, and sampling error cannot be estimated. Also called accidental sampling; opportunity sampling.

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Psychology term of the day

November 22nd 2024

population variance

(symbol: σ²) the square of the population standard deviation. It is a measure reflecting the spread (dispersion) of scores in a complete population of interest (e.g., the test scores of all students at a school).