What is Convenience Sampling? Meaning, Advantages and Applications

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Convenience sampling is when the sample for a test is taken from that section of the whole population that is easiest to access.
This is generally used for preliminary testing. It comes under non-probability sampling methods. It has other names such as grab sampling, accidental sampling, or opportunity sampling.
As the name suggests, convenience sampling involves picking respondents who are easiest to reach out to. It is based on the convenience of those conducting the test. It is a non-probability sampling method.
Respondents might be people in their campuses or offices, commuters, people in malls, parks, or other public areas. They simply need to give their time and consent for the test. Otherwise, there is no method or list of attributes to select respondents.
Some people mistake convenience testing for “random sampling” since the sample is selected without a method or “randomly.” It is not done haphazardly or at random.

Applications of Convenience Sampling
A drawback with convenience sampling is that the sample might not represent the whole population to be studied. It helps in conducting tests quickly. However, the results might be off the mark.
The method can lead to a bias in sampling or a sampling error. That is why researchers advise against the method.
Nevertheless, convenience sampling does have its uses. Alternatively, sometimes there is no other choice available.
Example - Someone who has started a new venture selling juices might not have the resources for a full-scale market survey.

Advantages of Convenience Sampling
1. Cheap to Carry Out
A great benefit of convenience research is that it does not take much money to carry out. This makes it great for pilot studies. This is when a smaller, less accurate study precedes a larger, more accurate one.

2. Easy to Access
Researchers do not have to put in much effort to gather data. Instead, the needed sample is taken from right around them. The data can be gathered whenever they want to. This can help them meet deadlines quickly. It also lets them carry out many tests one after the other if they wish.


3. Simple to carry out
Convenience testing can be done in a short time, sometimes less than a day. All one needs is a questionnaire distributed among the chosen population.
Sure, the accuracy of the test is not reliable. However, some researchers might not need that. They can simply carry out the tests and focus their energy on other things.

4. Get information quickly
Some researchers might want to get a rough idea of the population before starting a proper test. Convenience sampling can help them collect this pilot data. It also helps them develop hypothesIs for studies to be conducted later on. Some studies also need to be conducted in a short time. Again, convenience testing comes in handy in these cases.

Disadvantages of Convenience Sampling
1. Lack of Power
Convenience sampling does not have enough authority to determine how different subgroups behave or think from each other.
2. Lacks Authenticity
The approach lacks authenticity in the research paradigm. The work is not taken seriously in research circles.
3. Sampling Bias
The sample selected might not contain all the subgroups of a population. Thus, it might not be representative of the whole population. This makes it difficult to draw conclusions from the sample. Researchers would not even know the scale of the bias in the sampling.

This video is on Convenience Sampling and it has the following sub-topics.

Time Stamps

0:00 Introduction to Convenience Sampling
0:15 What is Convenience Sampling?
1:06 Applications of Convenience Sampling
1:42 Advantages of Convenience Sampling
2:55 Disadvantages of Convenience Sampling