ACCA Applied Knowledge · Management Accounting · Sampling methods
An accountant wants to test a new costing system and asks the first 30 managers who happen to walk past her office for their opinions. Which statement best describes this approach?
This is convenience sampling. Managers are chosen simply because they are easily available, which makes it quick and cheap, but the sample is unlikely to represent all managers and so is open to bias.
- AConvenience sampling, which is quick and cheap but likely to be biasedCorrect
- BMultistage sampling, which is random at each stage
- CSystematic sampling, because managers are taken in sequence
- DStratified sampling, because managers form a distinct group
Explanation
Selecting whoever is easily accessible is convenience sampling. It is cheap and fast but not representative, so bias is likely. It is not systematic because there is no fixed interval from a list, and no strata or stages are used.
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 company has a list of 2,000 customer accounts, numbered 0001 to 2000. The auditor uses a random number generator to select 100 account num…
- A market researcher interviews the first 100 shoppers she meets who match set quotas of age and gender. Which statement about this method is…
- Which of the following is a disadvantage of simple random sampling compared with other sampling methods?
- A company with 40 depots across a country wants to check inventory record accuracy. It randomly selects 4 depots and checks all records at e…
- A company wants to survey customers from a complete list of 5,000 account holders. It selects every 50th name from the list after choosing a…
- A survey of 200 customers uses quotas: 50% aged under 40 and 50% aged 40 or over. Interviewers reach the quotas, but they tend to approach c…