Probability Sampling - Research Paper Example

Probability Sampling Target population In any survey, it is necessary to accurately identify the target population s that the survey can be effective in terms of helping to derive the appropriate data needed for understanding the larger population (Mutz, 2011). The target population will be made of the following; Households of young families These are the people who are most likely to buy the cereal for breakfast. As a result, they are going to be a part of the main target population. Households may actually be the most important target population for the marketing of a cereal.

As a result, the survey will benefit a lot by being able to target households for the survey and the eventual marketing campaign. Young people Young single people, both female and male are also going to be part of the target population. This group is also likely to be able to buy the cereal as they may not have enough time to prepare a complicated breakfast. They are likely to use the cereal to help them fix an easy breakfast every morning. Appropriate data collection method The most appropriate deal collection for this study would be a well designed questionnaire.

The questionnaire should be well designed and the question should be to the point. The nature of the study would benefit more from quantitative data as opposed to from qualitative data. This will mean that other ways of collecting data, such as interviews for qualitative data will not be necessary for this data. Questionnaires will be the most appropriate because they will help get quantitative data from the target population. The respondents will be able to answer the questions as they will be direct.

The use of questionnaires will not only be cost effective but will also be functionally effective in that it will offer good and valid data that can be codified and analyzed using a statistics software (Foreman, 1991). Appropriate sample frame The sample frame should include all the people who are likely to buy the cereal. This will include the following issues; Economic class It will be important to consider this as one of the factors of the sample frame. The other factor to consider while developing the sample frame will be the race and ethnic composition of the population.

Different races and ethnic groups are likely to have different buying habits, especially when it comes to products like cereals. The other factor to consider will be the family size. Depending on family size, the family can have specific buying habits in order to meet its needs. Sampling method The most appropriate sampling method for this kind of survey would be the probability sampling (Thompson, 1997). This will give each of the elements identified in the sampling frame an equal chance of being chosen.

As a result, it will be easier to identify the sample that will be derived to represent the larger population. Sample size The most appropriate sample size for this study would be between 2000 to about 5000. This will be important for the survey to be able to get a sample that cultures all the units that are relevant for the purposes of this study. However, if the study needs to be carried out in more than one city, the sample size may need to be more than that. In such a case, the sample size for each city can be the size identified above, or can be adjusted to fit the population size and population units of each individual city.

Planning the sampling units The firm has to know how each unit of the population makes decision on buying the cereals. How a bachelor may think about box of cereals is not the same way a mother of two children would think, the motivation informing such a decision for each unit of the population is different for each member. This difference is important because when it comes to marketing processes such as the design of the product, the branding, and the advertisement, each one of them will be affected differently.

The kind of advertisements that will appeal for a mother of two children with regard to a box of cereals is not the kind that will appeal to a young person. In fact, what can appeal to an unmarried male is not what will appeal to an unmarried female. In this regard, identifying these factors will be important in order for the firm to be able to have an effective marketing campaign. References: Foreman, K. (1991). Survey Sampling Principles Statistics: A Series of Textbooks and Monographs. New York, NY: CRC Press. Mutz, D. (2011).

Population-Based Survey Experiments. Boston, MA: Princeton University Press. Thompson, M. (1997). Theory of Sample Surveys. New York, NY: CRC Press.