Innovations in Sampling: Improving the Appropriateness and Quality of Samples in Organizational Research

Abstract

Technology has changed the way that organizational researchers obtain participants for their research studies. Although technology has facilitated the collection of large quantities of data through online platforms, it has also highlighted potential data quality issues for many of our samples. In this article, we review different sampling techniques, including convenience, purposive, probability-based, and snowball sampling. We highlight strengths and weaknesses of each approach to help organizational researchers choose the most appropriate sampling techniques for their research questions. We identify best practices that researchers can use to improve the quality of their samples, including reviewing screening techniques to increase the quality of online sampling. Finally, as part of our review we examined the sampling procedures of all empirical research articles published in Journal of Applied Psychology in the past 5 years, and we use observations from these results to make conclusions about the lack of methodological and sample diversity in organizational research, the overreliance on a few sampling techniques, the need to report key aspects of sampling, and concerns about participant quality. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, Volume 10 is January 2023. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.