Steve Tippins Ph.D.Helping doctoral students get their dissertation accepted, succeed in their careers, & change the world | Academic Career Advisor | Dissertation Chair & Founder, Beyond PhD Coaching | 35 + years of experience.

The Importance of Random Sampling in Research

15 Feb 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:32

In this brief instructional segment, the speaker emphasizes the importance of using random sampling rather than convenience sampling in research. He illustrates the pitfalls of convenience samples by citing examples such as surveying only family members or employees who report to the researcher, noting that power dynamics can lead respondents to give socially desirable answers rather than truthful ones. The speaker warns that such biased data undermine research validity. He concludes with a call‑to‑action, offering a free "Dissertation Help Community" link and asking viewers to comment the word "help" to receive it.

Chapters

Committees and researchers like random sampling, meaning people are randomly chosen as opposed to samples of convenience. Hey, I sampled all of my family members, and here's a big one. I sampled all of the employees that report to me. And that's an issue because you have power over the people who are responding, so they may be answering in a way that they think you want to hear, as opposed to objectively drop the word help in the comments and I'll send you a link to my free dissertation Help Community.