Ethics Problems in the Study Reviewed. Ethical

¶ … ethics problems in the study reviewed.

Ethical Issues

The first noted ethical issue in the document reviewed in this study is the ethical issues represented by the small group that is used in representing the sample group in the study as the group is all from one small area in a Southern U.S. state only and there is no representation of a sampling of individuals country-wide in this study relating to social media marketing.

Stated as well in the limitations of the study is a lack of representing of a wide range of advertising and marketing companies and the lack of representation of individuals in advertising and marketing companies in all countries are there are only advertising and marketing firms from one country represented in the study. This leaves a question about the use of social media in other countries and the methods for advertising in those countries.

The study reported used the technique of convenience sampling. Problems that arise with convenience sampling include the problems stated as follows:

(1) "The convenience sample often suffers from a number of biases… [in that] a convenience sample can lead to the under-representation or over-representation of particular groups within the sample." (Laerd Dissertation, 2012) For example in the larger organization with multiple sites it cannot be clear why some in the organization participated in the study and others did not; and (2) Since the sampling frame is not know, and the sample is not chosen at random, the inherent bias in convenience sampling means that the sample is unlikely to be representative of the population being studied. This undermines the researcher's ability to make generalizations from the sample to the population being studied. (Laerd Dissertation, 2012)

II. Outcomes of the Use of Convenience Sampling