The general population survey collects data which characterizes all, or nearly all people residing in a particular area. For example, broad population researchers may survey a city or a state. Information collected may be from each in that state or a representative sample from the whole population. The study collects data through personal interview administered on the site, questionnaires or telephone interview. The population involved provides data that may be descriptive of themselves or other people of the population.
The population involved is segmented or stratified along different dimensions before any sampling take place (Corrigan, Kuwabara, & O'Shaughnessy, 2009). The population sampling is then carried out separately in each segment. The review divides it by size, states, religion, and community etcetera. Other than the accuracy of the method, stratified sampling is used to select disproportionately large number of the selected population.
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In data sampling, there is no one answer to how many people to include in the survey. The accuracy of the selected population depends on the sample size. The accurately calculated stratified random sample gives a reasonable estimate for many types of drug use.
Obtaining an appropriate sample size is very critical in any survey. The large sample size is more representative of the whole population; it lowers the influence of the outliers (Dworkin, 2012). Also, the large sample size is important to produce results among variables that are significantly different. To get a quality sample, the researchers should focus on the study, and also avoid bias.
The sample used should have low sampling error, high confidence level, and the recommended degree of variability.
References
Corrigan, P. W., Kuwabara, S. A., & O'Shaughnessy, J. (2009). The public stigma of mental illness and drug addiction: Findings from a stratified random sample. Journal of Social Work , 9 (2), 139-147.
Dworkin, S. L. (2012). Sample size policy for qualitative studies using in-depth interviews.
