ACCA Applied Knowledge · Management Accounting · Sampling methods
A market researcher interviews the first 100 shoppers she meets who match set quotas of age and gender. Which statement about this method is correct?
Quota sampling is quick and cheap and needs no sampling frame, but because interviewers choose who fills each quota, it is a non-random method open to selection bias. Sampling error cannot be statistically calculated, and representativeness is not guaranteed.
- AIt is a probability method, so sampling error can be calculated statistically
- BIt is quick and cheap, but selection by the interviewer may introduce biasCorrect
- CIt requires a complete sampling frame of all shoppers
- DIt guarantees that the results are representative of the whole population
Explanation
Quota sampling is non-random: the interviewer chooses who fills each quota, so it is fast and low cost but open to selection bias. No sampling frame is needed and sampling error cannot be properly measured, so representativeness is not guaranteed.
Did you get it right without looking?
One question tells you little. A timed set on Sampling methods shows your real accuracy, how long you take and where you lose marks.
More Sampling methods questions
- A firm wants to estimate the proportion of invoices containing errors. Its population is all 12,000 invoices issued in the year, but the sam…
- A cost accountant needs to know the average time taken to inspect each unit in a batch, where inspection involves destroying the unit being …
- A company holds 2,000 numbered purchase invoices and wants to select a sample of 50 so that every invoice has an equal chance of selection, …
- A factory employs 600 staff: 300 machine operators, 200 assemblers and 100 supervisors. A stratified random sample of 60 employees is to be …
- Which of the following is a recognised disadvantage of quota sampling compared with simple random sampling?
- A firm has 10,000 employees: 8,000 in production and 2,000 in administration. It wants views on a new bonus scheme from both groups. Which i…