Sampling is the use of a subset of the population to represent the whole population. Probability sampling, or random sampling, is a sampling technique in which the probability of getting any particular sample may be calculated. Nonprobability sampling does not meet this criterion and should be used with caution. Nonprobability sampling techniques cannot be used to infer from the sample to the general population. Any generalizations obtained from a nonprobability sample must be filtered through one's knowledge of the topic being studied. Performing nonprobability sampling can be considerably less expensive than doing probability sampling. However, the results of studies conducted using nonprobability sampling are of extremely limited value (Lucas 2012).
Examples of nonprobability sampling include:
- Convenience, Haphazard or Accidental sampling - members of the population are chosen based on their relative ease of access. To sample friends, co-workers, or shoppers at a single mall, are all examples of convenience sampling. Such samples are biased because researchers may unconsciously approach some kinds of respondents and avoid others (Lucas 2012), and respondents who volunteer for a study may differ in unknown but important ways from others (Wiederman 1999).
- Snowball sampling - The first respondent refers a friend. The friend also refers a friend, and so on. Such samples are biased because they give people with more social connections an unknown but higher chance of selection (Berg 2006).
- Judgmental sampling or Purposive sampling - The researcher chooses the sample based on who they think would be appropriate for the study. This is used primarily when there is a limited number of people that have expertise in the area being researched.
- Deviant Case - Get cases that substantially differ from the dominant pattern (a special type of purposive sample).
- Case study - The research is limited to one group, often with a similar characteristic or of small size.
- ad hoc quotas - A quota is established (say 65% women) and researchers are free to choose any respondent they wish as long as the quota is met.
Even studies intended to be probability studies sometimes end up being non-probability studies due to unintentional or unavoidable characteristics of the sampling method. In public opinion polling by private companies (or other organizations unable to require response), the sample can be self-selected rather than random. This often introduces an important type of error: self-selection bias. This error sometimes makes it unlikely that the sample will accurately represent the broader population. Volunteering for the sample may be determined by characteristics such as submissiveness or availability. The samples in such surveys should be treated as non-probability samples of the population, and the validity of the estimates of parameters based on them unknown.