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Chapter 13: Basic Sampling Issues
Multiple Choice
1. The entire group of people about whom the researcher wants to obtain information in a
marketing research study is called the:
a. area sample.
b. population.
c. sampling frame.
d. convenience sample.
e. sample.
2. The first step in developing a sampling plan is to:
a. identify a sampling frame.
b. determine the sample size.
c. define the population of interest.
d. choose a data-collection method.
e. decide on an operational procedure for selecting the sample.
3. The list of people from which the researcher plans to select a sample of potential
respondents is called the:
a. sampling frame.
b. area sample.
c. convenience sample.
d. population.
e. sample.
4. In a political science study,t he list of registered voters in Webster Groves, Missouri, is
called the:
a. convenience sample.
b. sample.
c. multi-stage sample.
d. area sample.
e. sampling frame.
5. Which of the following sampling methods is the best known and most widely used
probability sampling method in marketing research?
a. Systematic sampling
b. Simple random sampling
c. Area sampling
d. Convenience sampling
e. Multi-stage area sampling
6. The difference between the sample value and the population value is called the:
a. true value.
b. random sampling error.
c. design error.
d. sampling error.
e. administrative error.
7. In simple random sampling, the probability of a sample element being selected for the
sample equals the desired sample size ________ the population size.
a. plus
b. minus
c. divided by
d. squared, then added to
e. times
8. If the population has 3,000 people in it and the desired sample size if 600 people, the
probability of a sample element being selected is about:
a. 0.20.
b. 0.30.
c. 0.40.
d. 0.50.
e. 0.60.
9. In systematic sampling, the skip interval equals the population size ________ the desired
sample size.
a. squared, then subtracted from
b. divided by
c. times
d. plus
e. minus
10. Suppose that you wanted to select a stratified random sample of graduate students by
gender for an in-depth personal interview of 50 students about the curriculum for a
Master’s degree in Marketing. If the Marketing M.A. program had 200 students enrolled
in it, and 60 percent were females and 40 percent were males, how many males would
you select from the sampling frame?
a. 30
b. 120
c. 15
d. 20
e. 80
11. Which of the following is the most popular type of cluster sample in marketing research?
a. Convenience sample
b. Simple random sample
c. Multi-stage area sample
d. Systematic sample
e. Area sample
12. What type of sampling procedure is being used if all of the students in all of the sections
of undergraduate marketing research at Webster University in St. Louis during fall
semester are included in the sample of a research study?
a. Systematic sample
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b. Convenience sample
c. Area sample
d. Snowball sample
e. Simple random sample
13. When a marketing researcher at Procter & Gamble decides to perform a test market for a
new type of shampoo in St. Louis and Kansas City, what type of sampling procedure is
being used?
a. Judgment sample
b. Systematic sample
c. Quota sample
d. Simple random sample
e. Convenience sample
14. When a marketing researcher who is performing an exploratory research study has
researchers ask people in a shopping mall which brand of television they own and why
they purchased that brand, and asks the researchers to survey 10 shoppers who own the
RCA brand, 15 shoppers who own the Toshiba brand, and 12 shoppers who own the
Panasonic brand, what type of sampling procedure is being used?
a. Simple random sample
b. Area sample
c. Systematic sample
d. Quota sample
e. Multi-stage area sample
15. When a marketing researcher wants to interview teenagers between the ages of 16 -19
about what types of music they prefer, and asks the researchers to go to a shopping mall
and ask teenagers if they own at least 100 music CDs in order to select her interview
sample, and then asks shoppers who qualify for this screening question to suggest the
names of two of their male friends who own at least 100 music CDs to see if they want to
participate in the study as well, what type of sampling procedure is being used?
a. Snowball sample
b. Multi-stage area sample
c. Area sample
d. Systematic sample
e. Judgment sample
True/False
16. The purpose of sampling is to use the results of the sample to estimate some
characteristic of the population from which the sample was drawn.
17. A sample includes every member of the population of interest to the researcher.
18. It is not necessary to select a random starting point as the first step in selecting a
systematic sample.
19. The main advantage of snowball sampling is to reduce the search costs for selecting the
sample or potential respondents.
20. In Internet sampling, the interviewing of respondents is essentially volume-insensitive.