Inferences Based On Sample Data Marketing Research

Ethical Issues Involved in Using Sample Data to Make Inferences about Population
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During the research process, researchers are not able to carry out direct observations of each individual in the population of study. They, therefore, collect data from a section of the total population called a sample that represents the entire population. This implies that the conclusions of the researcher based on the sample are applicable to the total population. Various ethical issues arise in using a sample of the population. The ethical issues may revolve around types of questions asked the population, type of information studied, and methods of data collection. Crucial ethical matters include the voluntary participation of the interviewees and informed consent, the need for anonymity and confidentiality, and also accuracy in analysis and reporting of issues (Lawrence Neuman, 2009).
The selected sample may be too small and therefore fail to provide an accurate representation of the population. The researcher will proceed to make inferences about the entire population using the sample selected and fail to capture accurate characteristics of the population. This can prove to be a source of the challenge if the research was necessary to provide further assistance to the population, such as through the introduction of medical services, introduction of food crop and other issues. The research can seem to be successful, but fail to satisfy the entire population. Such ethical issues can be solved be using a variety of sampling techniques instead of relying on random sampling only (Kenneth Bordens, Bruce Abbott, 2011).
In trying to solve the challenges associated with random sampling, the researcher may resort to using non-probability techniques of population sampling. Such deliberate sampling techniques can be useful in areas such as studying a time-limited population, selecting individuals for pilot studies and also descriptive analysis. However, this approach has many problems associated with it. The selected sample is likely to be biased hen...