Question

To better understand customer satisfaction with the service in the store a local clothing store decides to conduct a survey. An employee of the store is asked to approach the first ten customers as they enter the store on three randomly selected Mondays in April, May, and June. The employee asks each customer, "How satisfied are you with the customer service in this store on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being not satisfied and 5 being very satisfied?"

Identify the population of interest and the sample obtained. What might be wrong with the sampling method chosen for this study? How would you suggest they do this differently?

Answer 1

Systematic Sampling is used by the local clothing store because here the selective days are selected to conduct a survey.Systematic sampling is a statistical method involving the selection of elements from an ordered sampling frame.

Systematic sampling is a type of probability sampling method in which sample members from a larger population are selected according to a random starting point but with a fixed, periodic interval (the sampling interval).Systematic sampling is preferable to simple random sampling when there is a low risk of data manipulation. If such a risk is high when a researcher can manipulate the interval length to obtain desired results, a simple random sampling technique would be more appropriate.

WHAT MIGHT GET WRONG WITH THE SAMPLING METHOD CHOSEN IS -

1) The process of selection can interact with a hidden periodic trait within the population. If the sampling technique coincides with the periodicity of the trait, the sampling technique will no longer be random and representativeness of the sample is compromised.

2) The first ten customers on particular days are chosen, this may lead to biased results due to unnatural forces like on that particular day if raining happens then customers would not like to go out of their house for shopping.

i would suggest to choose random sampling technique because the selection of days are done randomly over systematic sampling and it is a way of selecting a sample of observations from a population in order to make inferences about the population.