Qualitative data collection instruments try to throw an exact measurement of something, “In business research, quantitative methodologies usually measure consumer behavior, knowledge, opinions, or attitudes. Such methodologies answer questions related to how much, how often, how many, when, and who” (Cooper & Schindler, 2014), one main quantitative data collection instrument is survey which is considered a major among other ones because it throws exact measures of opinions and consumer behavior.
The nature of sampling is “that by selecting some of the elements in a population, we may draw conclusions about the entire population” (Cooper & Schindler, 2014). Some examples of sampling methods available to researchers include: “Purposive sampling where Researchers choose participants arbitrarily for their unique characteristics or their experiences, attitudes, or perceptions; as conceptual or theoretical categories of participants develop during the interviewing process, researchers seek new participants to challenge emerging patterns, Snowball sampling where Participants refer researchers to others who have characteristics, experiences, or attitudes similar to or different from their own and finally Convenience sampling where Researchers select any readily available individuals as participants.
Descriptive statistical methods are used to “display characteristics of the location, spread, and shape of a data array, it attempts to describe or define a subject ,often by creating a profile of a group of problems, people, or events, through the collection of data and the tabulation of the frequencies on research variables or their interaction;” (Cooper & Schindler, 2014), the article that I choose “explored reporting trends, risk presentation, message source, stakeholder perspectives on safety, and framing of safety messages about the British Petroleum oil