Which sampling technique is used as a preliminary screening technique?

Which sampling technique is used as a preliminary screening technique?

• A. Judgmental sampling
• B. Random sampling
• C. Biased sampling
• D. Systematic sampling

Answer: (C)

Preparing for screening means you want to quickly flag potential problem areas rather than measure how common something is across the entire population. To do this efficiently, a biased sampling approach is used: units are selected based on prior knowledge, characteristics, or indicators of risk. This targeted selection concentrates effort on areas where issues are most likely to be found, allowing rapid triage and allocation of resources for follow-up testing. It’s a practical trade-off—great for spotting potential problems fast, but not suitable for obtaining unbiased population estimates. Other methods aim for representativeness or randomness, which is valuable for estimating prevalence, but not as efficient for preliminary screening.

Preparing for screening means you want to quickly flag potential problem areas rather than measure how common something is across the entire population. To do this efficiently, a biased sampling approach is used: units are selected based on prior knowledge, characteristics, or indicators of risk. This targeted selection concentrates effort on areas where issues are most likely to be found, allowing rapid triage and allocation of resources for follow-up testing. It’s a practical trade-off—great for spotting potential problems fast, but not suitable for obtaining unbiased population estimates. Other methods aim for representativeness or randomness, which is valuable for estimating prevalence, but not as efficient for preliminary screening.