A sociologist studying freshmen at a major university carried out a survey, asking (among other questions) how often students went out per week, how many hours they studied per day, and how many hours they slept at night. The sociologist used an introductory sociology class to carry out the survey and asked only the freshmen to answer the questions. The sample is called:
A)a convenience sample.
B)a volunteer sample.
C)a random sample.
D)a targeted sample.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is a convenience sample because the sociologist used an introductory sociology class as the source of the sample, which is an easily accessible group of freshmen who happened to enroll in that specific class. It is not a random sample because the selection process is not based on chance. It is also not a volunteer sample because the students were not given the option to participate or not. Finally, it is not a targeted sample because the sociologist did not specifically choose a sample based on certain characteristics or qualities.

A Sociologist Studying Freshmen at a Major University Carried Out