Tourism/Hospitality Management Research Survey Terms

Tourism/Hospitality Management Research

Definitions of Sample Survey Terms

1. Sample Survey – a systematic process for gathering data from a sample of units from a larger population in order to construct quantitative descriptors of that population.

2. Population (or universe) - all units about which we desire information

3. Sampling unit - one member of the population selected for study

4. Sample – the group of sampling units selected

5. Optimum sample size – the number of eligible respondents we need to meet reliability and validity objectives

6. Effective sample size – the actual number of eligible respondents providing reliable data that we end up with

7. Initial sample size – the number of eligible respondents we contact in order to reach our optimum sample size

8. Probability sample – a sample where any unit has a known, non-zero chance of being included in it; once a procedure is specified, the selection of sampling units follows this procedure and is left entirely to chance; a random sample is one type, where any unit has an equal, non-zero chance of being included in the sample

9. Nonprobability samples – involves judgment at some stage rather than pure chance, and the probability that any given unit of the population will be included in the sample cannot be determined

10. Sampling frame – a physical listing of all units in a population, or a procedure that produces the equivalent result; the ideal is that every population unit is included and included only once.

11. Sampling method – the procedures for drawing a sample from the sampling frame.

12. Sampling error – an estimate of how a sample mean may be expected to deviate from the population mean when drawing a probability sample from the population

13. Bias – any systematic difference between a sample statistic and the population parameter

14. Survey response rate – the...