You are conducting a study on illegal immigrants and employment history.You cannot post ads designed to elicit a sample due to the fear of the population regarding deportation if discovered.You know an illegal immigrant and have gained their trust.They agree to talk to you anonymously.After the interview, you ask the person to refer another immigrant to you to interview, also anonymously.After that interview, you ask for another referral from that participant, and so on.This method of obtaining a sample is known as
A)purposeful sampling.
B)quota sampling.
C)snowball sampling.
D)random sampling.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Snowball sampling is the method of obtaining a sample through referrals from existing participants. This is a suitable method in situations where the population is hard to reach or access, as in the case of illegal immigrants who fear deportation. The method allows the researcher to gain access to the population through the connections of the existing participants. Purposeful sampling, quota sampling, and random sampling may not be appropriate in this situation as they require a defined sampling frame or criteria, which may not be feasible in the case of illegal immigrants.

You Are Conducting a Study on Illegal Immigrants and Employment