UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Convenience sampling chooses individuals who are easiest to reach, such as nearby students or colleagues. It does not follow random selection principles and often leads to samples that are not representative of the population. This method is quick and inexpensive but prone to bias. Therefore, selecting respondents because they are easily available is best described as convenience sampling.

Option A:
Systematic sampling selects every kth unit from an ordered list after a random start, which is a probability method. It does not simply pick whoever is easiest to access. So it is not the option described in the stem.

Option B:
Simple random sampling gives each population member an equal and known chance of selection, often using random numbers. It requires a sampling frame and is more rigorous than just asking whoever is nearby. Hence, it is not the correct answer.

Option C:
Stratified sampling divides the population into homogeneous strata and randomly samples from each. It aims at representativeness, not convenience. Therefore, it does not match the description.

Option D:
Option D, convenience sampling, exactly captures the practice of selecting participants because they are readily available, such as sampling friends, colleagues or students in one’s own class. This matches the question, so this option is correct.