Introduction
There is no doubt that everyone loves ice cream. Due to its popularity, ice cream had many flavors that everyone loved. But despite that, it is not all the time that they want to eat it. There are times when sales in ice cream may have decreased and we want to find out if this really happens. This sampling design will be one way to see if ice cream sales indeed decrease during the winter months.
Population, Size, and Brief Reasoning
The population is a specific group or a number of people that are needed in a research or study. It is usually “the ideal population or universe to which research results are to be generalized” (UIC, n.d.). For this ice cream sales study, we target adults and children all over the United States, but will focus more on the places or states that have more changes in the weather. It is better to see the situation about the ice cream on, at least 2-3 weathers, to see the difference in the ice cream sales.
For adults, we get around 50 respondents, male or female at equal number, who are between 21 and 50 years old. As for the younger population, we get 80 male and female respondents at equal number, ages 8 to18 years old. It is good to get more respondents in the younger population than from the adults because it is possible that they are the ones who eat ice cream more. The more information we get, the more we can accomplish this study. We feel that these respondents will be reliable because they are the respondents who experience eating ice cream on different weathers. They will be reliable for our study. Every respondent will be, their identity, and their answers will be protected and remain confidential from the public.
Sampling element
The sampling element that we will use is the survey because respondents can answer the questions based on eating ice cream from the past and the present. We will be asking questions related to the topic. The sample questions are found on a separate document.
Method of random sampling
The method of random sampling that we will use is the cluster, which is a sampling technique used in marketing research. Here, we, as researchers, will divide the population into separate groups, called clusters (Stat Trek, n.d.). In our case, in the population of US, we get respondents from the abovementioned states and divide them according to ages. They will take the survey and, from there, we collect our data and compile them to get the results that we need and want.
We will be using manual collecting of the data because we will be distributing the hard copy of the surveys to the respondents. The data will be protected and stored in a safe place that we will determine.
Calculating the Sample Size Using a 95% Confidence Level and a 5% Margin Of Error
For younger population:
80 respondents = 67 suggested sample size
For adults
50 respondents = 45 suggested sample size
Survey Questions
How often do you buy ice cream in spring or summer?
Do you buy ice cream during the winter?
If not, what are the reasons why you do not buy ice cream during the winter?
Do you consider any factors in eating ice cream during the winter months?
What is the month that you stop eating ice cream come winter season?
References
Stat Trek. (n.d.). Cluster sampling. Retrieved from
http://stattrek.com/statistics/dictionary.aspx?definition=Cluster_sampling
https://www.uic.edu/classes/socw/socw560/Sampling1.htm
