THE IMPERATIVE OF POPULATION SAMPLING IN SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH (Published)
The quality of any research and its findings is connected and /or shaped by the process diligently followed. This suggests an unending link between the methodology (process) and the quality / outcome of a research. This paper explains the imperative of population and sampling and the value it adds to the quality of research and its findings. The paper is an explanatory one that analyses documented views of experts in the field of research and correlate same with the experience of the researcher. Observations and assessment of researches conducted by students of undergraduate studies and most times the graduate students’ revealed research procedural lapses. These lapses are mostly methodological that affect considerably the quality/outcome of their researches. The emphasis hinges on the need to pay required attention to the population and sampling procedure to ensure accurate research findings not speculative outcome.
Keywords: Population, Quality, Sampling, findings